The Forgotten War of Ours Hearts
by Nightsnow
Summary: Sora is tricked into resurrecting the organisation, but thë nobodies of Organisation XIII soon becomes the least of his worries, as the discovery of a new nobody forces the Organisation and the keyblademaster into a war. A war, which will demand the ulti
1. Chapter 1: Leaving the past behind

Ns: This i my first story here, so I'm a little nervos. Please bear in mind that I'm not a native english-speaking person, and there will be grammar- and spelling mistakes because of that.

This story will follow the canon of KH 1 and KH1, Chain of memories (GBA-Version) and some of 358/2 (I have just passed about 200 days). This story will not be cannon with Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts recoded as Birth by Sleep and Recoded hadn't been published yet by the time I started this story. Therefore Terra, Aqua, Ven and Master Xeonhart will be OOC (They were inspired by the secret end of KH2).

This Story will also contain OC's. Those who read the first upload of the story will properly know the pairing – if not the ending.

I was hit by a writer's block and thus have decided to reupload the story. This will give me the chance to tweak it a little and correct some mistakes. Also this should also give me the inspiration of the end. I have it in my head, I just couldn't write it down, but I will I never leave a work unfinished. I promise that much.

Summary: Sora is tricked into resurrecting the organisation, but thë nobodies of Organisation XIII soon becomes the least of his worries, as the discovery of a new nobody forces the Organisation and the keyblademaster into a war. A war, which will demand the ultimate sacrifice from the participans.

Disclaimer: I do not own kingdom hearts or any the characters related to kingdom hearts. If i did i wouldn't be writing stories on a webside called **fan**fiction.

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><p><strong>Chapter One: Leaving the past behind<strong>

The castle cloaked in shadows was silent. Soon the loud sounds of battle would fill the air surrounding castle as the three armored keybladers would challenge the master, but they had yet to battle themselves through the heartless and reach the castle, so right now in this very moment the castle was silent. Then in the entrance of the castle the silence was broken as the sound of a young woman yelling "Thunderga" rang through the entrance and up the hallway. A zapping sound followed as the heartless was merciless destroyed.

The magic casting girl was in her late teens or early twenties. It was impossible to judge on looks alone, especially because everything about her looks was off. Her hair had an unusual green colour, cut in a weird style - so short on the left side that her ear was completely exposed and so long on the right that both ear and the right eye were hidden behind it. Perhaps it was the also the intention to hid the eye, because her visible left eye had an eerie orange glow. The woman lowered her hand and dusted some invisible dust of her short black skirt.

"Show yourselves, I know that loose creatures can't come inside the castle." A figure in a dark blue robe appeared from the hallway.

"Leaving already? And just as we were getting to know each other." The girl narrowed her eyes (at least the visible one) as she turned to the newcomer.

"Are you going to stop me?" she asked. The figure removed his hood and revealed himself as a white haired man with calculating eyes.

"That depends what you are willing to give me."

"I own nothing," she said, momentarily confused. Then her pupils dilated in realization.

"You want Eraser," she said. She held out her hand. Black and white treads danced around it until they finally formed a keyblade. But were normal Keyblade was made of metal this keyblade seem to consist of gray see-trough air.

"This is but a shadow." She stated. "A shadow of a fake keyblade even. Why do you want it?"

The man smirked:

"You can give it up, _because_ it's fake." The two watched each other for a long moment. Those who knew them would properly say that a heavy past passed between - A past contained nothing but pain, both those who _really _knew both usually ended up dead.

"Terra and his friends are going to defeat the master," She finally said, her voice toneless.

He raised an eyebrow.

"You have faith in them?" he asked disbelieving.

She shrugged:

"The heroes always win," was her answer. She looked at the substanceless keyblade. Then she threw it to the other person.

"I exist because of Terra," she said and then her lips rose into an eerie smile, matching the better knowing smirk of the other. "Be sure to give him my thanks." She turned away and disappeared out of the castle door and silence reigned over castle once again.

* * *

><p>Years later did a young man walk through the empty hallways of a castle that never really was in the first place. Seemingly absorbed in a heavy book, Zexion didn't appear to be a worried man. But as always with the cloaked schemers mind was busier than it appeared to be. It was the night before he was setting out to Castle Oblivion, and he wasn't planning to go there unprepared. The fact alone that Marluxia had been appointed to lead the upper floors told Zexion that something was off, and he wasn't about to walk headfirst into a trap without <em>a lot<em> of preparation. Zexion closed Lexicon satisfied that his weapon was fully upgraded and his magic completely charged. He was about to head to his own chambers to get some long overdue sleep when he smelled it. Having memorized every member's individual smell, the two smells were easy to identify. It was not the smell of two persons he trusted. Blue eyes narrowed in suspicion Zexion cloak himself in an illusion that would render him invisible, so he could sneak closer to the two night owls and listen in on the conversation. Just what was Saix and Axel doing up so late?

Apparently the two neophytes were having a late night drink. Axel was sitting relaxed on the couch in the gray area with a beer in his hand, while talked to Saix:

"So what you are saying is that you wouldn't mind if Zexion disappeared along with Maluxia and Larxene?" Saix was looking out of the large window and thus had his back turned to Axel.

"I didn't say that," was his answer. Axel just laughed.

"But you sure as hell hinted it. Haven't changed one bit, have you? Ambitious as ever..."

Saix' face remained unchanged, but there was hint – a small hint of a smirk:

"Perhaps, but in my current position a change of heart is rather impossible."

"Well said," Axel laughed. "So I still end up doing the dirty work, but I don't get the bonus of dragging you down to bar so we can hit on the all the girls. "

"That was more you than me, really." Saix would have rolled his eyes if it wasn't beneath him.

"Still you attracted some really interesting types," Axel said clearly enjoying the memories. "I mostly ended up with a slap."

"Usually well deserved," was Saix dry reply.

"Well," Axel emptied his beer. "If our suspicions about Marluxia and Larxene are true I'll see if I can get Zexion caught up in the chaos." Saix turned around and faced Axel, his golden eyes gleamed.

"See to it," he said and walked out. Axel rubbed the back of his head with his hand.

"Man, wonder how long it will take before I can have ice-cream again." As soon as Axel was gone the illusion on Zexion lifted. The other nobodies would have been surprised to see the unusual expression of anger flash across Zexions face.

It didn't take long for Zexion to reach the Proof of Existence. He watched the light shining from his tombstone as he thought about his next move. Was this really the right thing to do? But with as he had to go the next day, he had more time…

He ended summoning Lexicon despite his doubts, this was the best plan he could come up with in so short notice, and it was not like he could really care, he wouldn't be really lonely leaving the Organization behind, after all he had lost that ability a long time ago. With Lexicons power it didn't take long to make a clone with almost the same power as him and all of his memories – except the conversation he had just heard. The clone was not enough, though. Once again he muttered a spell – this one connected the tombstone with his illusion instead of him. The illusion would act so much like him that a heart was needed to tell them apart. Zexion almost smiled at the irony. Surely, the others wouldn't be able to tell.

* * *

><p>Traverse Town had changed since Sora had restored all the worlds in his first adventure. Where it once was home to the people who had lost their world, it was now inhabited by people who couldn't return to their world – for one reason or another. Now the heartless had spread from District 2 and 3 to District 1, but since the current inhabitants of Traverse Town had no problem with this world's level of the heatless, no action was made to rout the heartless out. This made the town perfect for Zexion as a temporally stop. No one would look for him here. Of course he couldn't stay. He just needed to lay low for a while and go through the profile of every member in order to secure that no other were a threat to him, but first he would see how Axel planned to deal with the other him. He would feel the death of the clone and then he would have information of how to counter his assassin.<p>

Zexion stopped dead in his train of thoughts. He would need a place to sleep unless he developed a sudden love for the streets. Not liking the last option he stopped a man in ragged closed carrying a huge sword.

"Where can I stay the night," he asked, trying to sound as polite as possible and just this conversation over with. The swordman examined him, clearly not impressed:

"That depends, can you fight of these monster?"

"I alive in this town, aren't I?" Zexion asked, leaving out the detail that he already had lost his heart.

"The hotel in District 2 is quite nice, and almost safe. The owner takes most of the heartless out herself."

"A girl?" Zexion asked unsure, picturing a Larxene-type in his head. He didn't like the idea of sleeping in the same building as that type of girl.

"Yes – X'ero, she's a witch - a bit weird though, it's like... like she's missing something." This caught Zexion's interest. It couldn't possibly be...

"Is she antisocial?"

"Yes, but polite, when she has to talk."

"Can she appear from apparently nowhere?"

"Yes."

"Can she summon a weapon out of nothing?"

"Yes."

"Does non-aggressive heartless leave her alone?"

"Yes."

"And she can cast a wide range of magic."

"I already said she was a witch – hey where are you going?"

Zexion was going to meet this mysterious hotel owner, who clearly was an unidentified nobody. Just the fact that she had kept her identity hidden from the Organization made her interesting, the fact that she actually had a business made her intriguing, perhaps even fascinating, and a scientist to the core, curiosity ruled Zexion's mind.

It was no trouble for him to reach the hotel, but before he entered he summoned Lexicon – just in case this girl _did_ act like Larxene.

"Welcome," a toneless voice greeted him. "Leave the money on the desk and don't speak to me. I'm busy." Zexion raised his eyebrow. If that greeting was 'polite when she had to' he would not like to hear unfriendly. He approached the desk as he studied the girl sitting behind it. Green hair and orange eyes, he could smell a faint residue of darkness lingering on her, no doubt this was the girl, but just to be sure he asked:

"You are X'ero?"

"Yes," she continued to write whatever it was she was writing, not offering him any interest.

"I'm Zexion the cloaked Schemer."

"Don't involve me in a scheme then," was all she said. Her pen made a scratching sound as it flew over the paper. Zexion decided that direct approach was the best.

"You are a nobody, aren't you X'ero?" The pen stopped, Xero turned around as she faced him. Her orange eye glowing as she folded her hands and allowed to an eerie smile, which clearly war a cover up for a promise of death and disaster, to creep over her face.

"My, my. Is that a tone to use towards a Lady?"

* * *

><p>Ns: And the first chapter is done. I am going to upload the three first chapters again now.<p>

X'ero: Nightsnow, how is my name pronounced?

Ns: as zero.

X'ero: I see. Be sure to enjoy the story. (Leaves through a portal)

Ns: One day I will write a story about a _nice _person.


	2. Chapter 2: Resurrection

Ns: Chapter 2 is up. Next chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Kingdom Hearts

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><p><strong>Chapter two: Resurrection<strong>

X'ero had made a mistake. She wasn't quite sure how long it had been since Zexion had invaded her what she had of life, but it could have easily been around three years, and they were both still fully conscious and existing.

She sat at the café in District 1, drinking hot chocolate while her orange eye scanned Travse Town inhabitants as they moved around the town. That morning she had had her usual cup of hot chocolate while she waited for Zexion to finish his shopping in the moogle craft shop, and then just as she had taken the first sip she had realized, that she would miss it if she couldn't sit at the café and drink chocolate anymore. The train of thoughts had somehow led to the fact that she would miss Traverse Town itself if she were to leave. That irked her to no end. She was a nobody, how had she bonded with anything at all? When she was halfway through her cup she realized it: Zexion was fully to blame. When he had entered her hotel she had begun to intact with him, just a little, to be civil and somewhere along the road he had become, she dreaded the word, a friend, and her newly discovered ability to interact had affected the way she was around the normal townsfolk too. She would smile her 'disaster'-smile (as Zexion had named her smile) a lot less, which apparently made her less uncanny, and she had gone from being a feared person to a respected person, whom people relied on when the heartless needed a beating. Without a doubt this was all Zexion's fault, and X'ero did _not_ like it.

Zexion approached X'ero with the component for his laboratory in the hotel. (He had tricked X'ero into financing it.)

"Did you buy a cup for me too," he asked. X'ero looked at him the eerie disaster-smile in place.

"Sure did," she said. Considering her smile Zexion found it safer to buy his own, last time she had smiled like that while offering him a drink, she had drugged it with sleeping pills – he had been out for a week.

"What's wrong?" he asked, while opening a book. X'ero didn't look the least bit offended that he intended to talk and read at the same time.

"How would you describe our relationship?" she asked, swirling the last bit of chocolate around in her cup.

"Huh?" Zexion actually looked up. "We are friends of course."

"But we are nobodies and we didn't know each other from before becoming nobodies, so how can it be friendship?" Zexion closed his book.

"I see the problem, but you are forgetting something." X'ero waited patiently while Zexion searched for the right phrase. That was one of the things he liked about her; X'ero never interrupted while he explained a theory, first when he was done would she give her opinion on the matter.

"We are like-minded, and we are cable of having an intellectual discussion, we are both nobodies, which mean that we both understand what it means to miss a heart. Thus we are able to bond on an equal footing."

"I guess that makes sense," X'ero said. She looked relived. "I also have this dark persona, which sort of fits with the town so perhaps it is not wrong to have a home." Seeing that she no longer was troubled Zexion returned to his book. They sat there for a while: Zexion reading, X'ero going over the hotels finances. Then Zexion smelled it, he had smelled it before but hadn't taken notice of it, because he couldn't identify the smell. It was a sharp smell and unpleasant because it was not one a Nobody should smell.

"X'ero," he said. "I think someone we don't know might be in town."

"You smelled it?" She asked. Zexion nodded, once more opening a book.

"I wonder…" X'ero whispered more to herself than to Zexion. She lifted her head from the finances to look at Zexion:

"Can I borrow you laboratory, I want to repair something."

"What?" Zexion asked, intrigued by the unusual request. Once more X'ero folded her hands, her disaster-smile appeared and her orange eye glowed.

"A defence mechanism, I want to greet our guest properly."

* * *

><p>At the same time Sora, Riku and Kairi was waiting at Destiny Island's beach. Sora was clutching the letter they had found in the bottle.<p>

"Relax, they will be here soon."

It has only been a year since Sora and Riku had defeated Xemnas, but now, with this letter from King Mickey, they knew that Organization wasn't finished.

"I don't understand it," Kairi said. "I thought they had all faded away."

"Don't worry," Sora smiled reassuringly. "We will defeat them as many times as it takes." Kairi smiled back

"And this time we will do it together."

"They are here," Riku interrupted. A star in the sky shone brighter and brighter, seemingly falling down to the beach. When it was close enough Sora recognized his gummiship.

"Donald! Goofy!" He shouted waving his arms.

"Sora!" Moments later was the trio reunited.

The World that Never Was hadn't changed much. The broken Kingdom Hearts was still hanging in the sky, as a bizarre purple and black moon. The nobodies crawled all around the city street and wasted no time in attacking Sora and his friends. Sora swung the keyblade and eradicated another group of random dusks.

"Man, they just keep coming, where were we supposed to look again?" he complained.

"I'm more concerned about his Majesty whereabouts," Riku said, Souleater lifted ready to attack. "Where did you say he had disappeared to?"

"About a half year after we went home his Majesty caught the wind of some world-threading rumor and went off to investigate it." Donald explained. Somehow that didn't surprise the rest. King Mickey was always the quickest to act when darkness formed.

"Something seems off," Riku mumbled, but kept his worries to himself. Sora would after all still follow his heart, trap or not. After an endless amount of fighting did the group reach the Proof of Existence, only to find that all the tombstones really was turned off.

"They seem dead," Kairi said.

"Sora, are you sure you read that letter correct?" Riku asked teasingly to hide his concern about this.

"Hey..." Sora began, but before he could continue to argue with his friend, the keyblade shone and reacting to that a door, they never had seen before, appeared.

"There's the way." Sora stated and went to open it.

"How convenient," Riku said as he followed his best friend inside of what seemed to be a large chamber filled with machines. The problem however wasn't the size of the chamber or the odd machines, but rather the person standing in the middle of it.

"Xemnas," Sora, Donald and Goofy shouted - perfect synchronized.

"Well, well" Xemnas, still dressed in his black and white clothes, extended his arms in a mocking welcoming gesture. "It's truly a blessing to see you again."

"You won't trick us," Sora said sure there was trick, but not sure was the trick was. "We will defeat you no matter what."

"Sadly, you are being misled by hearts on this matter." Xemnas summoned his weapons and charged at the heroes. "Allow me to correct that." Red blades met a black as Riku quickly blocked Xemnas' attack.

"Sora," he shouted, trying to prevent being pressed back.

"I've got it." Sora swung his keyblade into the standard postion, the beam of light emerged from the tip and pierced Xemnas' chest. A click was heard from somewhere as Xemnas reeled backwards from the blow. He smirked and then disappeared into a green mess of data signs.

"What happen?" Kairi asked nervously as the sound of running machines began to fill the room. Riku rubbed his sore arm muscles. It had felt real, but working so long with DiZ now paid off.

"That was a data-hologram. Properly made from one of these machines we heard."

"So, eh" Sora said, catching on "That click-sound was not a good thing." Five pair eyes all sought out the spot on the wall where the keyblade beam had hid. A keyhole was neatly placed in the middle of a bunch gear that was turning.

"Gosh, Sora I think you just started that thing-y,"

"Perhaps we should turn it off." Riku suggested, but before any of them could figure out just how they should do that. The gears stopped and an white orb rose from the floor. It grew - bigger and bigger until it exploded into the black and white threads so typical for nobodies. The blast threw the group of heroes back into the Proof of Existence, where they could only watch as the threads surrounded the tombstones and light them up one after one.

"Sora, they are being resurrected." Kairi clung to Sora. Evil laughter of ten different people filled the room, and Sora realized that all the nobodies were going to attack in one group.

"This is not good." Sora readied himself, Riku, Dounald and Goofy did the same. Even Kairi drew her fairly new keyblade. In that moment did a black portal form behind Sora.

"Sora, this way." A familiar voice came to their rescue. Sora and friends were not late in following voice into the portal and leave the World That Never Was behind.

* * *

><p>"Axel," Sora sounded happy to see the best friend of his nobody. "You are alive. Now you can apologize to Kairi after all."<p>

"So you _got_ me memorized," Axel grinned. He rubbed the back of his he and turned to Kairi. "You know about that kidnapping..." Kairi smiled:

"It's in the past now. Besides we might have bigger problems."

"Yes," Riku interrupted arms crossed. "We must figure out what happened quickly. Starting with why you are alive."

"My guess is Xemnas had a plan B..." Axel began, but he never got the chance to finish. The dark corridor shook, beams of light penetrated the walls and before the friends had a chance to escape, the walls succumbed to the pressure and the corridor collapsed.

* * *

><p>Ns: The chapter is short, but it seems the right place to stop.<p>

Sora: So Ns, how did Xemnas do this?

Ns: I will explain the next chapter...I think


	3. Chapter 3: Hunt for the traitors

Ns: Chapter 3 is up.

Disclaimer: I don't know Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts and I'm not making any money of this fanfic.

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: Hunt for the traitors<strong>

Being resurrected was all well and good, but it didn't change the crucial fact that Kingdom Hearts - _his_ kingdom Hearts was broken.

"Why? Kingdom Hearts. Why were you destroyed? Why must I once more depend on that wretched Keyblade Master to restore your glory?" Kingdom Hearts failed to answer Xemnas, it was after all just an inanimate object. It was not like Xemnas wanted it to respond, what Xemnas wanted was someone to put the blame on, preferably the traitors, and then he wanted his dreams restored. Almost as a reply to his thoughts Saïx teleported in, to Xemnas surprise, followed by Vexen.

"My reports are ready." Saix said. He stopped to speak as he got a closer look at Kingdom Hearts. "Why is Kingdom Hearts black and purple?"

"DiZ – Ansem, broke it."

"What? How? But our hearts..." Saïx's voice sounded almost as if he was blaming _him_, Xemnas, for not protecting Kingdom Hearts properly.

"We had anticipated a slight damage to Kingdom Hearts if we had to resort to this emergency plan." Xemnas said not caring for Saïx tone.

"But that damage is nowhere near slight," Saïx dared to protest. "How are we to recover our hearts with _that_?"

Xemnas was almost surprised, did Saix just question him?

"Number VII, we _will_ restore Kingdom Hearts, and we _will_ reclaim our hearts - or do you suddenly doubt our cause and your position in this organization?"

"Of course not," Saïx was quick to reply. "I was just... surprised to find Kingdom Hearts in such a sorry state."

Xemnas nodded, accepting Saix's apology, relieved that he didn't had to suspect another member of the Organization for treason – well direct treason anyway.

"You report, Saïx."

"Axel acted like predicted. He saved the Keyblade Master, but they were forced to leave. We have closed the opening in Twillight Town and put up a barrier that should prevent Axel from entering our world again. Sora will not have a way back in here – he was even kind enough to leave his gummiship for us to use."

"Good, everything has proceeded as planned, then."

If Xemnas had had a heart he would have been worried when Saïx didn't confirm his last statement.

"Saïx, what went wrong?"

"Marluxia and Larxene escaped; or rather Marluxia dragged Larxene into a corridor before we could raise the barrier."

"It was a colourful scene if I may add to that," Vexen interrupted, "the young 'lady' knows a rather obscure langue."

Xemnas turned Vexen. He had almost forgotten his presence.

"Why are you here right now?"

"We have another situation at hand." Vexen insane smirk spread. "Zexion has not been resurrected, but if I could make just a few experiments with his tombstone I'm sure I can find the cause."

"Where his memories not stored in the orb like the rest?" Xemnas quickly interrupted, not wanting to let Vexen perform more experiments than necessary "Where they not unlocked when the keyblade activated the mechanism?"

"They minor experiments I already have done have shown nothing, but if I can get access to his quarters, the experiments I could do in there..."

"I'm no scientist," Saix interjected. "But is it possible, that the memories in the orb just were an illusion?"

Xemnas shook his head.

"Zexion knew of the orb, and he understands memories. They are our lifeline; with our strong minds can we restore our body and soul as longs as just one memory still remain, but if all our memories fade away, then we fade to. Why should he wish to risk that?"

"If he wanted to leave the Organization," Vexen stated. "No one would discover. Unless we all were defeated…"

There was silence for a moment as they all three instinctively knew that Vexen had said the truth.

"It properly was an illusion that was killed in Castle Oblivion – not the real Zexion." Xemnas whispered to himself. "We have been tricked." If he could not trust Zexion. Then how could he trust any other the other original six.

Before anyone could comment Xigbar appeared out of nowhere.

"Hey boss." Xigbar looked around. "Has VII already killed the party mood here?" Oblivious to Saix's death glare, Xigbar continued.

"Well I have got good news. Marluxia hadn't time to open a portal to a specific place, so take a wild guess where he and Larxy would end up."

"Home of the homeless," Xemnas said, "Travse Town."

* * *

><p>Xigbar and Saix arrived in Travse Town ten minutes later.<p>

"So Dog.. ehm number VII, why did you want to tag along?"

"I simply wish to eliminate the traitors as quickly as possible."

The truth was that Saïx suspected that Zexion had discovered who was behind the assassination attempt against him. If that was the case he had to silence Zexion before Xemnas found out. Saïx was not about to risk his position in the Organization, he looked at the sky, he could feel the moon up there, but it was covered by the clouds.

"Aw, has the weather put a lid on your temper." Xigbar mocked.

"I'll be perfectly fine."

"I hope so, because I smell a set up." Saïx looked around: Not one person was in sight. All the houses had been bared and his instinct told him that they were being followed. It was a trap, alright. The fact that shadows began to form, made it even more obvious.

"Let's split up," he said.

"The one who takes most down wins," was the jokingly reply.

Saix wasted no time in answering the needless joke; he summoned his claymore leaped for another district, sensing that it was he and not Xigbar that were followed.

A swing with the claymore was enough to destroy the group of Soldiers surrounding him, as soon as the heartless where gone a new group appeared, another swing and another new group, Saix jumped backwards, tired of fighting the heartless he tried to take control over them himself, but nothing happened. Heartless was weak creatures who followed any stronger will, he should have no problems in controlling a group of Soldiers - unless of course they already were under someone else's control.

"Show yourself, or are you too much of a coward to fight me directly."

First there was only silence, and then the heartless disappeared. Out of nowhere two people appeared on one of the higher city walls, Saix recognized Zexion, but he had never seen the green haired girl that teleported in with him before.

"So you were the one sending heartless at me."

"No," Zexion pointed the green haired girl. "That was my friend here." Saïx eyes narrowed as he tried to scan the girl from afar, but the distance between them was too great for him to figure anything out.

"You are not welcome here," the girl said coldly. "None of you are."

"You don't seem to mind Zexion."

"He is _one_ person - not _four_."

So Marluxia and Larxene really were here? Zexion turned to the girl.

"You can deal with him, right?"

She nodded.

"Yes the new security system should be enough."

Zexion disappeared again. Barriers appeared, separating Saïx from the girl. He heard bells in the distance; a helmet appeared from a dark pool, then a body, two disconnected hands and finally two feet.

"A Guard Armor," Saïx said not really believing this. "You plan to defeat me with _that_?"

Despite his words Saix was on guard. The dark force surrounding the main body part was not something Guard Armours normally had.

"I properly shouldn't be this nice and tell you," the girl said. "But the main body is invincible as long as the others body parts remain."

So that was the trick. The girl had made a grave mistake in telling him that. Saïx dodged the left food trying to stomp him flat. He hit the foot with a three-hit combo and it was quickly destroyed, before he could go for the right foot, he had to leap back to barely avoid being hit by the rocket hands. The bells rang once more, before his eyes the Guard Armor's foot reappeared.

"Oh, I forgot to mention that."

Saïx turned around to see the girl smiling - A sinister smile that seemed to reflect a dark and warped personality.

"I made a few upgrades. How do you like its new high-regeneration ability?"

Saïx looked up at the sky. The moon was still hidden behind clouds. He tried but he just couldn't build his rage up. The girl was still looking at him, the only aspect of her face moving was the slightly glowing orange eye.

She would regret this. Picking a fight with him. He would make sure of it – once he had defeated this useless heartless.

* * *

><p>Sora and Riku were racing at the beach in Destiny Island; Kairi was running behind them, laughing. Suddenly Riku reached out and pushed Sora into the water.<p>

"Riku, that's not very nice." Sora complained as he rubbed the saltwater out of his eyes, he opened them and found out that he was not in Destiny Island but in a bed in Disney Castle, wet because one of the cleaning brooms apparently had tried to clean his head. Before his mind could register what his eyes saw, he was hug-attacked by Donald and Goofy.

"Sora, you are awake." Donald said.

"How did we end up here?"

"Gosh I don't know. Queen Minnie found us three in the garden."

"What," Sora's brain registered only the number: Three, Us three.

"Where are Kairi and Riku." He asked. "... And Axel, too."

"Sorry Sora, we just don't know."

"We have to go look for them,"

"They are not in the castle," Queen Minnie appeared in the doorway. "We have already searched."

Sora jumped out of his bed.

"We have to go looking for them," he said once again, ready for action. "Let's take the gummiship and..."

He noticed the look on the faces of the people around him.

"We kind of left the ship in Nobody-world." Goofy said.

"No way..." Sora hung his head, not only were Kairi and Riku missing again, but this time he wasn't capable of looking for them.

"We are building are new ship." Minnie said, "but it's going to take some time."

Sora said nothing, there was nothing he could do about it this time. He was completely... Roxas appeared for his inner eyes.

"Don't worry, Sora," His blonde counterpart tried to sound reassuring. "Naminé is unharmed – I can feel it, so Kairi got to be unharmed too."

Sora closed his eyes. Riku was cable of surviving, so if he just hanged in there then he would find them again as soon as he, Donald and Goofy had a new ship. Somewhere deep inside Soras heart, began a new, but suppressed feeling to stir, but only Roxas noticed it.

* * *

><p>X'ero watched as Saïx dodged yet another stomping attack from the giant heartless. He had been doing it for about an hour already, and apparently he wasn't about to quiet any time soon. He was fast, fast enough to take out two of the loose body parts before they could regenerate, but it didn't matter. If he wasn't cable of destroying all five parts in five second he wasn't going to win. Why couldn't he accept that fact and just fade, already?<p>

"You are getting slower," She taunted. X'ero was not master manipulator, but mockery and threats where the only social skills she excelled in. "Why don't you just give up?"

"Why don't you come down here?"

"I think I'll pass."

X'ero had no qualms about letting the heartless do the fighting for her. One of the many benefits of being without a heart was the no conscience that followed. She looked up at the clouded sky, good thing that she had checked the weather forecast.

X'ero froze. From one of the roof a blue beam suddenly appeared and dispersed the clouds allowing the moon to become visible. Saïx opened and closed his hands already feeling the effects. He looked at her. If she had not known that he was a Nobody, would she have sworn that his eyes gleamed triumphal, or perhaps it was just the moonlight being reflected in them. His body was lifted from the ground for a few seconds as he shouted:

"Moon shine down!" Then he leaped at the heartless and slammed his claymore into the ground near the feet. They both disappeared. Saïx jumped up and took both hands out on the way up. He swung at head and forced the claymore through the head. The claymore continued down and cleaved the now defenseless body in two. X'ero's smile faltered a bit, she had heard of the berserker state from Zexion, but witnessing it herself was quite different. It had only taken him five seconds to eliminate her heartless. She looked at the sky once more. That beam...

Her focus returned to Saïx as he broke out of the berserker state. He breathed heavily. The one hour long fight before going berserk had at least drained him from a lot of stamina.

"Tell me where Zexion is, and I will let you live."

She jumped down without answering him. She was no good at the whole friend thing, but she was sure that selling him out were something she was not supposed to do.

The barriers were gone with the heartless. She had no choice, but to fight him directly. She folded her hands and began the summoning. Two thin black gloves soon covered her hands.

"Your weapon-summoning. You are a Nobody." Saïx said. It was more of statement than a question.

"What of it?"

"You really think that you can beat me with a pair of ballroom gloves."

X'ero's answer was to clasp her hands together.

"Darkfiroga." She shouted. A tornado of blue fire appeared and aimed for Saïx who jumped to the left just in time.

"Double-casting," he said and looked at her. "That fire spell."

"That's right." X'ero lifted one of her hands. "My element is darkness, and these gloves are formed of pure darkness. They allow me to double-cast spell, and I never run out of magic energy."

"Impressive, but you are still wide open to physical attack."

X'ero forced her smile back on.

"You will never come close enough for an attack."

"We will see." Saïx said. His eyes gleamed once more as his rage was built up. X'ero clasped her hands together again and she got in to fighting position.

"Moon shine down!"

"Double-thunderga."

The battle sounds filled district two as the two Nobodies faced off without knowing that their battle was being watched from a safe distance.

* * *

><p>Ns (watches the battle): They can't just talk about it, can they?<p>

Mysterious Figure: No it's not in their nature.

Ns: Who the heck are you?

Mysterious Figure: You can call me an important player in this eternal battle. (Disappears)

Ns (laughs nervously):Nice fellow... Anyway, next time is X'ero's and Saïx's battle so stay tuned to see who will win.

Zexion (Following the battle as well…): I better prepare. The next cluster off chapter will be up in a week.

Ns: And since I have already written them, they _will_ be up in at least a week.

Zexion: I know for a fact that Ns will appriciate reviews so she can see if people can forgive her for starting over.


	4. Chapter 4: Enemy of an enemy

Ns: next bundle of chapters.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the charakters related to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Four: The Enemy of an Enemy<strong>

"Be gone!"

"Reflectoga!"

Saïx's rage ended with his claymore being thrown out of his grip and up in the air. His attack had been blocked by a combined reflect-aeroga spell. He quickly jumped up and reclaimed the weapon just in time to send a black sphere of water back at the girl. Being a magician, she easily dodged her own magic and slammed her hands into the ground just as his feet touched it. A dark puddle appeared beneath him; Saïx sidestepped so he wouldn't sink in and quickly liberated the world of the Soldiers being summoned. Before she had time to stand up, he swung the claymore through the air - the pure force behind the swing creating a wind blow which threw the girl of her feet and slammed her against the wall.

"Shit," the girl was attempting to stand up again, but she was clearly at her limit. Unfortunately it was the same for Saïx. Disgraceful as it was he felt himself falling to his knees. He didn't even have the energy to build up his rage anymore.

"Brute!" The girl manage to keep standing by using the city wall as support. Her talking was an obvious an attempt to stall for time, but Saïx chose to play along. He too needed time to recover.

"Worthless Witch!"

"I may be a witch, but I'm not worthless." A hint of annoyance was heard in her voice.

Saïx fought his way back up on his feet, and tried to hide that he was lightly swaying.

"A Nobody, who can't even summon a proper weapon, is worthless." He sneered.

"Better than being a brute, who needs _an hour_ to defeat a Guard Armour."

"An _enchanted_ Guard Armour."

The girl didn't answer, the whole time she hadn't been fiddling with something in the pocket of her grey jacket, now she finally succeeded in fishing a green potion up from the pocket. Saïx narrowed his eyes; surely she didn't think that one lousy potion was enough to get her back into the fight. She quickly drank the potion and it revitalized her enough that she could stand without leaning against the wall. Saïx quickly prepared himself for an attack, but all the girl did was to lift her hand and create a black portal.

"Whatever," she mumbled and disappeared into the dark corridor. Saïx didn't waste time. He dashed after her as fast as his remaining strength would allow it. She was the only one who knew Zexion's current location; there was no way he was letting her escape, but he was so tired that it felt like the corridor were slightly shaking as he stepped in.

The girl stopped halfway in the corridor, the other side of the corridor wasn't connected to any portals. She hadn't tried to escape. She had tried to get him away from the moon.

"Do you have to be so persistent?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Then, so be it."

She resummoned her gloves. Saïx readied his claymore.

"Do you have a name?" Saïx asked. She had after all fought respectably.

The girl waited a moment as if she had inner debate with herself.

"X'ero."

The constant faint shaking chose that exact moment to take a turn for the worse, and it became impossible to ignore it as being tired. From the far corners four beams of light appeared and shot straight at X'ero. She succeeded in dodging three of them, but the fourth grazed her stomach. Her gloves disappeared all most immediately.

"After all this time...?" X'ero asked more to herself than to him. She hit the ground hard. Her eyes closed, but her body made no sign of fading, meaning that she wasn't deadly wounded.

Saïx heard the sound of small feet tipping over the ground and then did four small dog-like creatures appear from the corners. Their colours were and unusual combination of yellow and grey, the eyes rolled wildly around in heads of the dogs, but Saïx's instinct still told him that they were focusing on him.

"She's my enemy too." Saïx explained, even though he wasn't quite sure that they were intelligent creatures. One of the dogs opened its mound; Saïx threw himself to the side as another beam pierced the air were his head had been seconds ago.

Saïx wasted no more time trying to negotiate. He hid the dog with the claymore and to his surprised it dissolved into an uncountable amount of tiny Kingdom Keys.

"What?"

Saïx didn't have time to wonder. The tiny keys left from the dog were beginning to reshape into back into a dog, while the other three dogs had begun to charge up and aim at him.

Keys... Kingdom Keys... Saïx realized that he had no choice, but to report this to Xemnas. He glimpsed at the unconscious girl. Unfortunately that meant he had to bring her along as well, since she clearly was connected to these weird dogs. He quickly bowed down and threw the girl over his left shoulder. Unfortunately that meant the his left arm was occupied with preventing the unconscious girl from slipping so he had to summon a portal, press through it and just as quickly close it again with the use of just one hand.

His felt his tired body protest against the extra exercise, but he ignored it and steeled himself for the questioning look of the other Nobodies waiting in the Grey Room.

First no one said anything. Six pair of eyes focused on the very tired Saïx, who had just tumbled into the room in very unusual manner, then the eyes shifted to the weird green haired girl he was carrying in a very rough manner, then finally everyone looked at Saïx once more. Surely it was not the girl who had brought the Lunar Diviner in that condition. At last Luxord broke the silence:

"You know Saïx: If you want take a gamble with a girl, you properly shouldn't knock her unconscious and carry her like a potato sack,".

For the first time in his nonexistence life the tired Saïx felt that something other than the moonlight was seriously trying his patience. He walked through the room and then abruptly dropped X'ero on top of the surprised Luxord.

"Hey!"

"I'm waiting for an explanation," Xemnas cut through before an argument could develop. "A good one."

* * *

><p>It hadn't taken Xigbar long to trace Marluxia and Larxene. Since none of them had been willing to follow along quietly, a fight had soon erupted. Unfortunately they never got to finish their dispute, when all of sudden out of the blue four dog-likes creatures appeared. Since the dogs seemed set on killing them all three, the three Nobodies had decided to end their battle once they got rid of the unwanted distractions.<p>

"I crushed you already, so just die." Larxene was definitely getting irritated as the dog she just had zapped, recreated itself.

Marluxia blocked a light beam with his scythe.

"They are powerful, but they must have a weakness." He said.

"When you find it, Flowerboy, be sure to tell us it." Xigbar was thankful that he, unlike the other two, could attack the creatures from a safe distance high up in the air.

"I wonder where Saïx went; we could actually use him now." Xigbar continued and aimed at another dog.

"His smell has left this word." The sudden voice from rooftop right behind him almost made Xigbar loose he control over gravity.

"Whoa, Zexion, where did you come from?"

"I will explain that later," was Zexion answer. "For now let's defeat this enemy."

"Like you have an idea," Larxene didn't sound keen on being told what to do. Zexion ignored her.

"I believe their weakness is in the keys, if we destroy all of them the creature will be unable to rebuild – At least I believe so."

Marluxia and Larxene shared a look after hearing Zexion speak. Then Larxene threw her thunder-loaded knives in the open mouths of two of the dogs, while Marluxia destroyed the other two with a swing of his scythe. Xigbar prepared his two arrow guns and as the dogs dissolved into tiny keys, he shot each of the keys down with deadly precision. An explosion of light blinded the Nobodies for a second, but when it faded the dogs were gone.

"Well, what do you know? Looks like you hit the bull's-eye as always Zexion." Xigbar said - ignoring the fact that the other Nobody had turned up from literally nowhere. Behind his seemingly casual chat with Zexion , Xigbar was actually watching the two traitors with his good eye as they tried to sneak away. A shot in the ground right before the feet of the traitors stopped them dead in their tracks.

"Ah, ah" Xigbar said, jokingly waving his index finger. "You are not leaving before we finish our little 'discussion'."

Marluxia and Larxene immediately summoned their weapons, but before the fight could resume Zexion hand shot out in a halting gesture.

"I smell them," he said. "A lot more of them."

The doors into the district were blown up, and from them did about 100 of the dogs appear.

"That's it." Xigbar stated "We are falling back."

He opened a portal and pointed one of his arrow guns at Marluxia and Larxene.

"You two: Through the portal! Now!"

"What do you think we are? Stupid?" Larxene was practically shouting, more willing to fight 1000 of the dogs than to return to the non-existing world. Marluxia placed a calming hand on her shoulder.

"I don't think we have a choice."

"But..."

Marluxia looked Xigbar in the eye and nodded. Few seconds later all Nobodies had disappeared from Traverse Town.

Xigbar dragged Marluxia and Larxene away to the special cells designed for Nobodies as soon as they appeared in the Grey Room, which left Zexion with task to do all the explanation needed.

"So Zexion, you have a lot to explain." Xemnas said. "Starting with you mysterious disappearing."

Behind Xemnas Saïx tensed. Unnoticeable to the most perhaps, but Zexion noticed it. He also noticed X'ero, who, for some strange reason, was placed unconscious in Luxord's lap.

Zexion bowed his head slightly.

"My deepest apologies, sir. I had not intended to be away so long, but when I was sent to Castle Oblivion I sensed something wrong with Marluxia and Larxene. So as an extra security measure I placed an illusion in my place."

"I know how you illusion works. Why didn't you return when you sensed its death?"

"I didn't sense it, sir." Zexion lifted his head. "It's strange: Almost as if my illusion didn't die but had its life sucked out instead."

"Yes, Axel did report that the Riku Replica had gone berserk and killed you in an unusual way."

Xemnas seemed satisfied with the explanation, and ignored Vexen who was mumbling something about his experiments never being a failure.

"Next time you plan to send an illusion in your place, you will inform me." Xemnas continued.

"Of course," Zexion's eyes shifted from Xemnas to Saïx who still stood in his usual place a few feet behind the Superior. "After all there is no one left _in this room_ that I have to fear."

A silent challenge was thrown at the other Nobody, and from Saïx expression, Zexion knew that meaning behind the words were understood.

"Well then," Xemnas continued. "Do you know this girl? Saïx said she randomly attacked him and then was attacked by... 'keydogs' or something."

"Yes, I have met her in Traverse Town. She's a bit territorial, so I apologize if I have failed to inform her properly about the Organization. I didn't want to give away potential dangerous information to an outsider." The last bit was a direct lie, he had told X'ero all she needed to know about the Organization and its members. Just in case.

"I don't know about the dogs, but we were attacked by them too."

To Zexion and everyone else surprise Xemnas turned to girl and removed the long side of her hair from her face to get a clear view. It was clear that he was thinking about something.

"What is her name again?"

"X'ero."

Xemnas shook his head.

"Nothing! That name doesn't tell me anything. Yet I've seen her before."

All of the former apprentices shared a curios look, all of them remembering the mysterious man with amnesia suddenly turning up at Ansem's court.

"Perhaps her name is an anagram like it is for rest of us." Xaldin said.

"No, I already tried rearranging the letters." Xemnas shook his head one more time. "My mind is properly playing a trick on me." He nodded to Luxord.

"Anyway she must know what is going on. Take her some place to rest. We will question her when she wakes up. The rest of you are dismissed." One by one the Nobodies left the room until only Zexion and Saïx was left.

"I heard it all, Saix." Zexion said in a low voice just as Saïx passed him on the way out. "And just in case you were wondering, I will not forget it."

Saïx stopped.

"Then you wasted you chance to tell Xemnas." He stated. "You cannot harm me."

"You will always just be a neophyte, while I always will be one of Xemnas colleagues from before he became a Nobody." Ice blue and yellow eyes met. "You must have noticed how easy it was for me to explain myself. I _will_ get Xemnas to humiliate you."

"Humiliate me?"

"You are ambitious, aren't you? I'll get Xemnas to strip you of your number and turn you into a dusk."

Saïx eyes narrowed.

"You are welcome to try, but I'll not let you get in the way of my heart."

Another challenging and murderous look was exchanged between the two Nobodies before they returned to their own rooms.

* * *

><p>X'ero's stomach muscles felt sore and her back was bruised as if someone had dropped her on something uncomfortable. She forced her eyes open only to close them again to prevent snow blindness, when had Traverse Town become so white? Her memories about the events of the day returned. Had that brutish Saïx carried her out of the corridor after all? And if so, what the hell had he dropped her on? Once more X'ero opened her eyes to find Zexion sitting on a chair reading.<p>

"Am I in the World that Never Was?" She asked.

Zexion nodded and closed Lexicon.

"You have been out cold for some hours."

"I see." X'ero closed her eyes again. She felt like going back to sleep. Just to prevent herself from dealing with this.

"X'ero, we had to flee Travers Town."

"I know."

"No, you don't." Zexion chose to move to her bedside."X'ero, when we went back to check on Traverse Town it, was no more."

"What?" This time not just X'eros eyes, but her whole body shot up, bringing her face to face with Zexion.

"It was completely destroyed, there was no building and no people left there."

"They have been killed then." X'ero's face was completely blank.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be I'm a Nobody. I'll cope. It was just... everything I knew."

"Yes, it was home."

A silence spread between them.

"Who are they?" Zexion finally asked. X'ero thought for a moment.

"I don't know everything. I can best explain it as the light that always shines in the dark."

"Isn't that supposed to be 'hope'? Or…" Zexion eyes went to the windows. The broken heart shaped moon still hung in the sky.

"No, this is more a physical manifestation of it."

Zexion extended Lexicon to her.

"Place you hand on Lexicon, and it will be updated with all you knowledge of these creatures."

X'ero paused for a moment.

"Aren't you asking me to upgrade your weapon?"

"Yes, but it will be easier for me to study these creatures this way. You trust me, right?"

X'ero placed her hand on Zexion's hand. Her orange-shining eye starring sharply into Zexion's blue, searching for something.

"I guess I can trust you." She finally said and moved her hand to Lexicon. Letters began to form in the air before they sunk into the cover of the book. Zexion handed X'ero an elixir. She took it with her free hand.

A new more comfortable silence spread between them. Zexion glanced and X'ero who seemed lost in thoughts, he was wondering wherever he should ask the question on his mind or not. Finally he decided for it. The worst that could happen was the she got in one of her creepy moods and decided to drug him again.

"X'ero, have you ever known someone named Xehanort?"

X'ero spit the reaming of her elixir out, and she hastily removed her hand from Lexicon, while she tried to stop a coughing fit.

"Why kind of question is that." She gasped in between the coughs.

"It was nothing," Zexion said and got up. "Recover fast."

On the other side of the door Zexion opened Lexicon and began to skim through the new pages. His mind more occupied with X'ero's out-of-character reaction. He wondered how X'ero would react when she met Xemnas himself. Somehow things were getting really interesting around here.

* * *

><p>Ns: Well, it seems everyone survived this time,...<p>

X'ero: This time?

Ns: I have the whole plot figured out now.

X'ero: Is that good or bad, I wonder...

Ns: You'll see.


	5. Chapter 5: Girl Talk

Ns: Up until this point I was unsure on what to do with Xion, as I have not finish 358/2 when I wrote it. (I had to start all over, I messed up the panel system). I have, however decided that Xion have too big an impact on the way I view Roxas, Axel and Saïx to be let out. I decided as I wrote the story that Xion is being remembered again. It will be explained, but in a much later chapter.

Disclaimer: I dont own Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5: Girl Talk <strong>

"How about the 'Princess of Darkness'?" Xigbar _almost_ backed away from the green haired girl as the creepy smile she had, just grew a little creepier. Zexion sure was right in calling that smile a 'disaster-smile', Xigbar was sure that if he pushed the subject, disaster would be eminent. Being Xigbar, however, knowing this only made him push the subject.

"Since you are not protesting vocal this time, I think..."

"Forget it!" Despite her smile X'ero didn't look the least bit amused. "I'm not some wicked version of a pathetic Princess of Light."

"Ah..." Xigbar pointed at her. "But you have refused the last 23 titles I have suggested."

"Perhaps it's because they have gone from silly to ridiculous." X'ero sighed. "I really don't see the point of them."

"Tradition, Princess, every member of the Organization must have a name and a number."

X'ero turned away.

"Funny, I don't remember joining anything."

Xigbar swooped in front of her again.

"Whoa, Princess, you might wanna keep that kind of talk inside you head here."

"I'm not fond of socializing, and simply don't want to get along with..." X'ero quickly counted the tombstones. "13 other Nobodies - and stop calling me princess."

"Quick update: Number XIII has joined with his Somebody, Number VIII has left for good and Xemnas have not yet decided the fate of XI and XII." Xigbar placed his arm around X'ero shoulder in mocking friendly gesture. "So, Princess, as our new number XV you might just be lucky and have to 'get along' with a lot less."

"XV? What happen to XIV, then?" X'ero freed herself not really caring for the answer.

Almost as if some secret button was pushed Saïx teleported into the room, hearing the last bit of the conversation.

"It is none of your concern," he said. "What should concern both of you, however, is that you are an hour late to the meeting in the Throne Room."

"It's all because, Princess, here doesn't seem too happy about any of my title suggestions."

"You have been choosing a title for an _hour_?" Saïx didn't sound impressed. "Why are you even allowing her to veto any of them?"

"I just don't want to get permanent black listed by the Princess. Her smile is kind of creepy."

X'ero immediately flashed one of said smiles.

"If you keep calling me 'Princess' you will get on top of my 'who-to-kill-first' list."

Xigbar just laughed.

"That's enough." Saïx stopped the two Nobodies before X'ero was tempted to act on her words. She did not seem to have Larxene's temperament, but… "X'ero, you will accept the title of 'the Enchanted Darkness' or go with whatever Xigbar last suggested."

X'ero hung her head:

"'Enchanted Darkness' it is."

"See that wasn't so hard, was it, Princess?" Xigbar teleported out of the room before X'ero had time to respond or hit him with a spell.

"He is going to keep calling me that, isn't he?" X'ero asked looking utterly defeated. Saïx resisted rolling his eyes.

"If you simply ignore him, he will stop thinking it is fun. Can we continue the meeting now? Your presence is mandatory."

* * *

><p>It would be a huge understatement to say that Xemnas was displeased. For the first time in the history of the Organization a meeting was delayed. Xemnas' fingers tapped impatiently against the throne as he was glaring daggers at the members who had actually turned up. The only thing gained from that, however, was that Demyx seemingly was on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Before Demyx could topple from his chair and confess to all sorts of crimes he hadn't committed, Xigbar teleported onto his throne, quickly followed by Saïx, who gave Xemnas a short nod signalling that everything finally was in place.<p>

"Fellow Nobodies I would like to officially present our newest member: Number XV."

X'ero walked in dressed in her new cloak, her hood down, allowing Xemnas to get a full view of her face as she took in the sight of the other members. As her visible eye locked on him a memory of an emotion flashed over her face, but was gone before he could identify it.

"So where is my chair?" Her face was completely blank now, not even the infamous smile showed.

"You can take VIII's. He is never coming back."

Saïx shifted uncomfortably in his chair as X'ero teleported to Axel's empty one.

Xemnas spoke to X'ero:

"Zexion has told me that these dogs are called 'Light Hounds' and are on the dusk-levels of their species, can you add anything more?"

"No!" X'ero didn't seem like the most talk able Nobody, Xemnas had encountered, but then X'ero surprised him by all of sudden to continue to talk:

"They have properly reported back to their masters, so we are all going to be targets now they know I'm not the only one of my kind."

Silence filled the throne room as the rest was waiting for X'ero to be a bit more specific about this 'master', but she showed no intention to do more than study her fingernails.

"We would like some actual answers." Xemnas tried.

"I'm a witch, not an oracle."

Xemnas sighed and turned to Zexion, who shook his head, signaling that he hadn't learned who these masters were.

"So... " Xemnas was lost in thoughts. "We have to start all over with Kingdom Hearts and deal with an extremely dangerous enemy, while we have to avoid Sora so he can gather our hearts in peace."

"You forgot Axel," Xaldin said. "His going to help our enemies and is tremendously good at hiding."

"Sounds like a challenge, Boss." Xigbar almost seemed thrilled with the prospects, but Xemnas was not so happy with the directions of their problem.

"We are a minority compared to our enemies," he thought aloud. "Especially, since we don't know the full potential of some of our enemies."

The other Nobodies was too shocked by Xemnas acknowledging a fault (beside their missing hearts) to actually comment on the problem. Beside Xemnas already seemed to have made a decision.

"I have decided to overlook Marluxia's and Larxene's treachery for the time being." Xemnas immediately gained the full attention of the entire room.

"Sir, that's not..." Xaldin began to protest, but was interrupted with a halting gesture from Xemnas.

"I do not trust them anymore than you do, but we need every weapon we can get, and if we turn them into Dusks they are not going to be efficient enough." He paused. "I trust all of you to keep a very close eye on them and report to Saïx or me the moment they begin to plot again."

Xemnas took his time to eye every one of the more loyal members in an attempt to let the gravity of the situation sink into their minds.

"I'm not the kind of person, who makes the same mistake twice. We cannot afford to fight among ourselves this time. Any attempts to harm or assassinate _any_ other member of this Organization will be treated as high treason and punish accordingly. The orb is destroyed, this is your last chance... don't waste it."

Out of the corner of his eyes Xemnas thought he saw Saïx and Zexion move uncomfortably, but he quickly dismissed the thought. After all Saïx and Zexion were the two most professional of the entire group. He had nothing to fear from them.

* * *

><p>Saïx teleported into the Alter of Naught two hours later to give Xemnas the latest update of the castle.<p>

"Marluxia and Larxene have been released." He said. "They have been informed that they are not to meet privately in their chambers or any others places."

Xemnas nodded:

"If we keep them apart perhaps we can prevent them from planning another coup d'état."

"Perhaps..." Saïx agreed although he wasn't about to underestimate Marluxia's level of ambition any time soon. "If nothing else we always we have two more expendable members. It is always good to keep a pair of sacrificial lambs at hand. Demyx alone isn't sufficient."

"Speaking of pairs," Xemnas said. "I have decided to make permanent two-persons teams."

"What?" Saïx was not too keen on that idea.

"Why did Sora defeat us, Saïx?"

"Because he took us down one by one..." Saïx could see where Xemnas was going. "Who am I going to team up with?"

"The only team I have decided on are Xigbar-Marluxia and Xaldin-Larxene. I would like to have our treacherous elements under a permanent watch, preferable somebody capable of dealing with our two 'friends'."

Saïx nodded; that too was a reasonable decision.

Xemnas turned to the broken Kingdom Hearts.

"In order for a new Kingdom Hearts to be build, that thing needs to disappear."

"How do we destroy it?"

"I was thinking of building a new cannon, not unlike the one DiZ – I mean Ansem – made. With a few improvements of course, so it doesn't explode. "

"Do we have the blue-prints?"

"No, but DiZ's final laboratory was in Twilight Town. Perhaps, we can learn something there. Assign two persons to investigate it."

"I can easily do that myself," Saïx said. "If you have not decided on the teams it will be a lot easier if I just do it."

Xemnas nodded:

"But you will not go alone." He added. "I am serious about these new rules."

Saïx was walking down one of the hallways determined to grab whoever he saw first and force them in on this mission, when he heard a familiar laughter from the Grey Room. Larxene should have absolutely nothing to laugh at in her situation, and suspicious as he was, he changed his direction to the Grey Room. The scene he saw was unexpected. Larxene had literally toppled down from the couch in a mean laughter, Demyx was sitting on another couch, fiddling with his sitar and trying to look uninterested, but it was clear that he was listing in. The last person present was X'ero who looked like she would rather be somewhere else. She turned around, saw Saïx and rose from couch. Not intending to explain the situation she was out of the room before he could ask.

Saïx turned to Demyx:

"What happen here?" He asked.

"They were... uh... talking girl talk." Saïx swore that he saw a faint streak of red colour Demix face.

"Yeah, _girl_ talk" Larxene interrupted. "So butt out of it unless you in favour of a gender swap."

Sure both Larxene and X'ero were Nobodies of the female kind, but Saïx couldn't see the sadistic Larxene nor the unsocial X'ero sitting down and chatting causally, but Saïx knew that he wasn't going to get a straight answer out of Larxene, and Demyx wouldn't recognize foul play even if it jumped up and bid his nose, so Saïx left the room and gave chase to the only one he knew he could get to answer.

He caught up to X'ero just before she was about to enter her own quarters.

"You are making it too easy." He said X'ero turned to him.

"Huh?"

"If you are involved in a coup, I can easily get Zexion blamed too – the two of you are friends after all."

X'ero still looked confused, but then something seemed to click inside her head.

"That blond girl is the only other female Nobody I have ever met; I wanted to ask her some girl question."

"What kind of 'girl question'?"

"Ehm..." X'ero looked away. "Since you absolutely _have_ to know the answers: Questions like 'Have you period stopped too after becoming a Nobody.' I mean... it is not like I could really ask Zexion about such things... "

"I see." If he had had a heart Saïx would have felt very awkward by now. He too looked away and was already making an excuse inside his head to escape the situation, when something hid him.

"What was funny about _that_?"

"Oh..." X'ero shrugged. "Larxene asked me a question which I think I misunderstood." She was thoughtful for a minute as she recalled the conversation:

"Something about Zexion and me... If we are items or something..."

Saïx's interest was reawakened immediately. If X'ero and Zexion were physical in their relationship, there got to be some way he could use it against Zexion.

"What did you answer?"

X'ero lifted her visible eyebrow:

"I told her that I don't appreciate being called a thing."

Saïx was shocked. Up till now he had thought X'ero was fairly intelligent. He had not pictured her as the innocent type, who was unaware of the things going on between men and women.

"I think she was asking whatever you and Zexion were _an _item. The underlying question being if the two of you are 'doing it'."

"Doing it? You got to be more specific." She crossed her arms.

Saïx decided that the direct approach was the best.

"She was asking if you are having sex with Zexion or not?"

"Ah..." X'ero nodded, understanding. "Now I understand her reaction to my answer better."

"So are you?" Saïx was not about to let her get off the hook so easily.

X'ero's eyebrow rose once more, and her 'disaster'-smile appeared.

"It's not wise to have sex with you colleagues, it... complicates things."

"But you see Zexion as a friend not a colleague. If you are going to avoid the question at least do it properly. "

"Sex is really not a nice..." X'ero froze before she could finish her sentence, her smile disappeared and she turned around.

"Xemnas..." she said as Xemnas appeared in the hallway.

Saïx too froze as he could figure out what the Superior was going to say.

"Saïx what are you discussing with X'ero that are so important that you haven't left on the mission yet."

Too Saïx horror X'ero beat him to the answer.

"We were discussing whatever sex between colleagues is a idea."

Saïx erased all thoughts about X'ero being innocent from his mind. She was doing this on purpose. She had to be.

"You were discussing...what?" Xemnas turned to Saïx with a question look. "Surely that can wait till after the mission. You did volunteer."

"Sir, what number XV meant, was..."

Xemnas stopped Saïx with a hand movement.

"No need to explain. I'm sure the discussing was a lot more innocent than it sounds."

Saïx was not sure Xemnas believed him, but before he could protest further Xemnas had turned to X'ero.

"Since Saïx have failed to find a partner for this mission I would like you to accompany him. I will like to see how you handle missions."

X'ero looked at the glaring Saïx and shrugged, about as happy with the suggestion as he was.

"I do not have a choice, have I?" she asked Xemnas, already knowing the answer.

Larxene closed the portal into her own quarter and looked around warily. Normally Xemnas was the only Nobody able to teleport into all of the private areas, but considering the low trust she had earned in the Organization, she wouldn't put it past the Superior to have placed some sort of spies in her room. She had been surprised and suspicious when the green haired witch had shook Larxene's hand and presented herself as 'Xero'. In respect of the present Demyx the vocal conversation, however, had been nothing more than fairly innocent girl talk. Well, innocent enough to almost embarrass Demyx to dead. Sure that the room was as secure as it could be Larxene opened her hand and revealed the small piece of paper that X'ero had transferred over to Larxene with the handshake. As expected the message on the paper was short and more of a statement than an actual message, but as Larxene read it her most sadistic smile spread. All it said was:

"I'm in."

* * *

><p>Ns: And the next chapter is up. But I got to say, X'ero, watch out who you befriend.<p>

X'ero:...

Sora: Hey, when will I be in?

Ns: Next chapter or next again... You've got to wait for you gummiship to be build.

Sora: But I got to find Riku and Kairi.

Ns (Sighs): All in due time. Give the Nobodies an change to organize themself... If the can that without killing each other.


	6. Chapter 6: Magical Heartless

Ns: And the chapter are up a little late, but up none the less.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6: Magical Heartless <strong>

The people living in the world of Twilight Town were generally good people, so at this late hour of the night everyone - no matter the age – was sound asleep and thus no one saw the two shadowed figures heading for the Old Mansion in the middle of the night. The larger one was walking hurriedly, his whole body language tense as if he was barely stopping his anger from erupting. Apparently that didn't stop the smaller and more vulnerable looking silhouette from trying to catch up to him.

"Wait! I don't know this area."

Saïx ignored X'ero's shouting behind him. He just speeded up and headed to the crack in the wall. As he bent down to pass through the broken wall he heard an already too familiar voice shouting 'Aeroga' behind him. He threw himself through and landed flat on his stomach as dust fell as rain around him. Few seconds later he heard X'ero step through the now much larger crack. Saïx got up and faced X'ero.

"One: we are not trying to wake up the whole world. Two: What did Xemnas say about attacking members?"

X'ero's disaster-smile appeared as fast as her magic.

"One: I was making the hole bigger and more comfortable to pass through – You just happen to be there. Two: What does Xemnas say about members who leave other members behind in foreign worlds?"

Saïx decided the girl wasn't worth bothering with. He turned away to continue through the woods when he felt a light tug at his sleeve. He looked back at the girl.

"What?"

"I don't know which marathon you are trying to win, but it would be extremely nice if you would stop training for it and walk like a normal person."

"If you can't follow, just wait here."

"Have I done you anything... recently?"

"Have you any idea what you insinuated to Xemnas?"

"No..."

X'ero looked honestly puzzled.

"You made it sound like we were discussing the idea of having sex. With _you_ of all people - an _enemy!" _

Saïx turned away when X'ero didn't say anything, but before he could walk too far, he heard X'ero calling him back.

"Saïx," she said, no hint of her smile. "I don't care about you. I think you are a brute, I don't like the way you are fighting and it is true that I consider Zexion a friend and I know why Zexion fled the Organization," she crossed her arms. "But I'm a Nobody: What happened between the two of you is not my problem. I don't consider you an enemy so long you don't break in to my territory, which no longer exists. To me you are completely... insignificant."

All small part of Saïx was actually humored about X'ero weird way of trying to make peace. At least she didn't pretend to be more than a Nobody.

"A make-believe friendship such as the one between you and Zexion... You would be surprised how far some would go for that."

"You speak of experience?"

Saïx didn't bother explaining further, but he did slow down so X'ero could keep up with him.

* * *

><p>It wasn't for nothing that Zexion was an expert tactician. He was calculating enough to perceive the action and thoughts of both enemies and allies alike and thus Zexion was rarely surprised. This time, however, Xemnas had done the unthinkable and utterly surprised Zexion.<p>

Zexion blinked twice while his quick mind was trying to catch on to the underlying reason for Xemnas question.

"Would you mind rephrasing that?" Zexion finally said; a sentence he thought never would have to part from his lips.

"I asked," Xemnas said deliberately speaking more slowly as if Zexion wasn't one of the most intelligent Nobodies in the Organization. "If it is a problem to you, if X'ero and Saïx are entertaining the idea of sexual intercourse?"

A very male part of his brain immediately woke up and shouted 'Hell yeah, I have problem with that' inside Zexions head, but the utter randomness of Xemnas's need to ask such a ridicules question in the middle of the sleeping hours, quieted the voice.

"Sir, have you been drinking one of Vexens experimental potions?" Zexion asked before he could stop himself. Xemnas being delirious was the only logical explanation.

"I see you are finding the idea outrageous, but X'ero herself was being quite direct about the subject and Saïx was uncharacteristically defensive, which told me something going on."

The irritating male parts of his brain immediately shot down in relieve, and the scheming part took over. The only time X'ero had ever shown to be aware of the fact that there existed two different sexes in most worlds was in her first words to Zexion - words, which mostly were meant as a snide remark. Zexion had not heard the conversation, but he would guess that Saïx properly had interrogated X'ero about her relationship with Zexion himself. Xemnas, neither knowing X'ero's personality nor the killing intent between Saïx and Zexion, would of course come up with and different interpretation. Zexion almost smiled, he would have paid a million munny to see Saïx in the defensive like that.

"I do not own X'ero, Xemnas." was all Zexion said.

"We have already lost valuable members to a false feeling of friendship. I do not wish anyone to succumb to a _memory_ of jealousy or possessiveness."

This time Zexion was close to laughing.

"I'm not number IX, I'm aware that every emotion is nothing but a false memory stored in our brain. Besides I can guarantee that X'ero in no way is thinking in the same direction as you are. She is just blunt and oblivious about some subjects."

"I see..."

"If there is nothing more, perhaps I can go back to sleep."

"I have decided to make permanent teams. You and Vexen will stay here back at the castle."'

"A wise decision..." Zexion paused. "What about X'ero?"

"I would like you advise on that. Is she going to be trouble?"

'Properly' Zexion thought, but kept that to himself.

"A physical fighter will be a good match to her magic, and she doesn't like people so someone who doesn't talk too much."

"That's Lexaeus or Saïx, then."

"Absolutely, Lexaeus!" Zexion's voice came out sharply and Xemnas immediately detected it.

"_Is_ there a problem, Zexion?"

The problem was a bit different than Xemnas thought. If X'ero, who he trusted to be his ally, was placed in such a strategically perfect place as on Saïx' team, how could he not use her? Zexion would rather not be tempted and deal with the matter himself.

"I just think that... Lexaues's personality fits better with X'ero."

"That's your reason?"

"Yes..."

Zexion withdrew under Xemnas' starring gaze. It was a poor explanation he had come up with, but if Xemnas ever was to detect the 'rivalry' between Zexion and Saïx, it would be much better if he thought X'ero to be the reason, instead of the actual reason. It was first as he reached his own quarters, it hit him. All that and he had still ended up using X'ero.

Zexion sighed and opened Lexicon. He began reading the pages X'ero had added to his weapon. This manipulating side of his was exactly the reason X'ero wouldn't tell him about her past or her somebody. He didn't even know that these Light Hounds were after her before they literally were standing on the hotels doorstep. She said that she trusted him, but the fact still stood that she knew more about him than he knew about her. He would be satisfied if he just knew how she had lost her heart. Not really reading the pages, he had reached the final page of X'ero's addition. For the second time that night Zexion was surprised.

Unfinished as it was, the information was spare, but it confirmed Zexion theory. X'ero's Somebody had known a 'Master Xehanort'. If he could get his hands on that knowledge, a key to Xemnas's lost past; he could get Xemnas to do anything.

* * *

><p>In contrast to Zexion's awakening ambition X'ero was rather bored. For the last hour Saïx had been searching through some computers in some secret lab. She had been strolling around the mansion searching for whatever. The true was: She was unsettled. There was something in this town she just didn't like. Finding nothing, however, she returned to the basement.<p>

"Any luck yet?" she asked.

"No."

"What kind of mastermind has Sea-salt ice cream as a codeword?"

"..."

"Why didn't we just teleport into this basement instead of the town?"

"..."

"You are not really your usual efficient self on computers, are you?"

"..."

"Actually... what are we looking for?"

Saix banged his hand into the keyboard. Weird numbers and signs began to go on a rampage on the computer screen.

"Why are you so chatty all of sudden?"

"I don't really know... I just have it weird."

"Weird?"

Before X'ero could elaborate, a loud sound from the computer turned the attention of the two Nobodies back to the computer screens.

"You got to be kidding me," Saïx mumbled. "One hour of systematic search and the data just pops randomly up."

"Isn't that a blueprint of a weapon?"

Saïx didn't answer, he pressed a bottom and from a machine in the wall did a twelve pages thick report appear. Saïx grabbed it.

"It's all here. We can make a new cannon and get rid of that useless failure hanging in the sky."

Before Saïx knew X'ero had torn the reports out of his hands.

"It can destroy a Kingdom Hearts?" She asked, her eye skimming the pages with interest.

"Yes, now give it back."

"Sure."

As X'ero had handed the report back to Saïx, they heard a fluttering of wings from somewhere around them. Saïx and X'ero both immediately readied their weapons. Darkness poured from the walls and the floor and from the pools of darkness black feathers filled the basement. Instinctively both X'ero and Saïx covered their faces as the room was swallowed by fluttering darkness. Desperately X'ero tried to somehow take control over the situation, but there was something in this darkness she couldn't command. An equally strong mind was blocking her out.

Saïx thought about attacking with his claymore, but these feathers were without really substance. His weapon properly wouldn't have any effect. Then he felt something grab onto the blueprints in his hands, his grip on the papers was lost. He didn't waste any time as he continued to shield his face with one and tried to move in the direction of the thief.

"Don't!" He heard X'ero shout. "It's a trap!"

Saïx already knew, even Demyx would have known at this point, but there was no way he would fail the Organization by not recovering those blueprints. In the distance X'eros voice was becoming fainter and fainter until it completely died out. Almost as if X'ero's disappearance was a sign, the feather around him thinned out until only the once swirling around a hidden figure was left. Saïx was standing in the Sandlot, how he had gotten there he had no idea, but of course this new foe were his first priority.

"Give those blueprints back," Saïx demanded.

No answer.

"Are you heartless?"

Again no answer, Saïx took that for a confirmation. He looked to the sky. In its cycle the moon was far from full moon, which meant his rage would build slowly unless he took some serious hits – the last never a good idea when the foe's abilities was unknown. In the swirl of feathers something changed, in the middle a black and a green chain appeared, bound to each other in an empty circle. The feathers gathered and attached themselves to the chains, forming two legs, two clawed arms and finally a helmet head hovering above the strange body. The body was no larger than an average human body, but Saïx knew better than to underestimate a foe because of its size. Almost as if it was justifying his wariness, the Heartless lifted its left arm, countless feathers flew from it completely covering the sky and blocking out the moons power. Saïx was surprised, how could it know? The feather forming the helmet parted where the mouth would have been, were it a human.

"I have observed you."

"You can talk? You are consciousness?"

"Yes, why are you surprised? The heartless of you leader was much more aware than I."

The heartless calling itself Ansem had been intelligent, but the Organization had always believed that heartless to be one of a kind. Beside Xemnas's heartless had looked somewhat human. Even the voice of that thing was warped beyond humanity, although it did have a feminine touch.

Saïx readied his claymore; the chain circle had to be the core of the heartless. He would aim for that. As Saïx attacked, darkness formed inside of the circle. Saïx threw himself to side, but his claymore being almost as large as him was hit with a blue beam. He shouted unwilling as electricity shot into his sword hand and made him drop the claymore on the ground. A form of the magnet spell lifted the claymore out of his reach. He tried to dismiss and resummons the weapon but somehow the spell were blocking for his connection.

"Did you think darkfire was the only dark spell? How do you like my dark version of _all_ the basic spells?"

Saïx growled. No magnet-spell lasted forever he would just have to endure until it wore off. He watched the heartless prepared for whatever spell it would cast next. At least he thought so, but the next move took him by surprise. A combined darkfire-aeroga spell was aimed at him. He should have been able to avoid it, but he was so surprised by this unique magic ability that he didn't dodge in time. Hit by the full force of the attack he stumbled to the ground, every black particle in his body was wavering in pain.

"You are her heartless, are you not?"

The heartless didn't answer. Instead Saïx body was lifted into the air by a combined magnet-gravity spell. Normally gravity wouldn't harm him, but these unknown dark spells was stronger. Saïx's vision blurred as his body was drained for stamina and he felt himself beginning to fade. He thought he saw a blue fire pass by him, but it didn't matter anymore. It was humiliating to be the first to go, and by the hands of a heartless no less.

The spell lifted off and he fell towards the ground, he expected to hit it hard but something softened the impact. He was rolled on the back and his head was lifted from the ground.

"Come on," he heard a woman's voice. "Don't fade on me, that thing has a high magic resistance - my attacks doesn't work!"

* * *

><p>X'ero lifted Saïx's head, trying to catch his attention as another double spell was reflected against her reflect-barrier.<p>

"Come on," she whispered, "Don't fade on me, that thing has a high magic resistance – my attack doesn't work!"

She couldn't believe that she had to save this brute. But she couldn't fight, not against this particular heartless. Saïx was fading, but it was going slowly, telling her that it was do to the spell and perhaps it wasn't irreversible as usual. She fished two elixirs out from Saïx's backpack and forced them into him. The black particles stopped flowing from Saïx body, but he was still literally see-through. She took the last elixir from the backpack. As she was about to make Saïx drink it as well a strong hand stopped her.

"Don't waste your elixir it's too late. I can't keep my body together much longer. Flee back to the castle and report this to Xemnas."

X'ero paused; she couldn't flee back; if she opened a portal now the heartless would follow, she couldn't fight it and it would indeed be stupid if she used her last elixir on a hopeless cause.

Saïx made a strange sound. Like something in between a groan and a laugh.

"Axel would have found this extremely funny: Me, of all people, dying in the arms of a woman, who fancies one of my enemies," Saïx's eyes became unfocused. "If I just had my heart, then... I... I..."

X'ero was about to yell at him that he should save his strength and stop talking, when she had an idea. She opened the organization coat enough for her to be able to reach into a pouch she wore as a necklace. From it she took two small vials, she poured the contents of the vials into the elixir very carefully counting the drops.

For a second she thought about it. Zexion had once explained to her that the body of a Nobody was a curious thing. Theoretically it did not exist, but the body would still react as it remembered it should react to certain events – hence the need for food. On one hand she didn't knew if this rescue attempt would simply kill Saïx, but on the other hand it was not as if he was going to survive without it, so he couldn't complain about being a guinea pig. She would poison him, not fatally, and hope that his immune system would override this slow fading.

She kept shaking the bottle- The elixir changed colour into grey, when she saw that she forced the drink into Saïx, even though he was fighting against it. Saïx coughed violently and got to his knees, where he threw up.

"Are you trying to poison me?" He growled.

"Technically, yes" X'ero rose up and closed her coat again. "Can you fight?"

"Yes, but we need my claymore back."

"I think it's only capable of three spells at once. So if we can get it to cast three, the magnet on your claymore will be cancel."

"Yes, but how?"

Before they could prepare a more detailed plan the heartless stopped its assault on X'ero barrier.

"Why?" It moaned. "Why are you going against your nature?"

"What?" For once X'ero and Saïx were in agreement of what to say.

"You!" it pointed Saïx. "You are ruled be the moon, why not follow you instinct and simply rip those you consider enemies to shreds?"

"That's a bit hard considering you have my weapon." Saïx dryly answered while he wondered if it asked about why he hadn't try to kill X'ero.

Saïx was ignored by the heartless.

"You!" It pointed to X'ero. "Not just have you failed to let you darkness corrupt your book-happy friend, by joining this so-called Organization haven't turned against your very own principles?"

"First Zexion is a Nobody, he can't be anymore corrupted," X'ero said, she felt Saïx starring at her waiting for her answer to the second part of the accusation. "Beside you are a heartless, I doubt your capable of long-terms planning."

"Can't be anymore corrupted? Long-time planning?" The black feathers covering the moon hovered down, the blueprints appeared among them.

"Why don't we play a game, then?"

The ten pages of the blueprints were separated among ten feathers, black portals began to appear.

"No!" X'ero quickly removed the barrier and both she and Saïx dashed at the heartless, but it was too late. Once more the air was filled with feathers making it impossible to see. The only thing they heard was Saïx claymore falling to the ground. Then all the darkness was gone. Saïx went to pick up his weapon, he said nothing, but from his tensed shoulder X'ero guessed that Saïx wasn't too happy.

"We have not failed the mission," she said. "I think I can trace them with this."

She opened her hand and revealed a single black feather.

"What?" she said, when she saw Saïx questioning gaze. "Don't you think I know a magnet-spell too?"

"Good," Saïx nodded and opened a portal. "Let's report back to Xemnas."

X'ero followed behind him into the portal. Not even a 'thank you' she got for saving his life, if all missions with Saïx ended like this, she sure hoped, that this was the last the two of them were going on together. She thought about Zexion should she tell him about her heartless? The book-happy friend part of the heartless speech did worry her, but on the other hand how much chaos could a single loose heartless bring?

* * *

><p>Ns: And now X'ero's heartless join the fray, because it's not like we miss people who are plotting against each other in this story<p>

X'ero: You are writting it, so lay of the sarcasmen.

Ns: True. One chapter more this week, then.


	7. Chapter 7: Plotting

Ns: Final chapter today.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the charakters in Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7: Plotting<strong>

"I don't have a heart?" The longhaired girl laughed out loud for the first and properly last time in her existence. "He he he... that does explains a lot."

She was sitting alone in an expensive looking room speaking to and laughing at none other herself it seemed.

"No heart he says... he he he, and straight to my face too. It's so funny."

Her hysterical laughter stopped as sudden as it had begun.

"Yet he dares tell me, that he is my master." She rose up and went to a drawer. From there she took a small knife.

"But I have no loyalty towards him, I have no hatred against his enemies, no rage I can unleash on those who use me."

Green hairs fell to the floor and were dissolved into black particles.

"Perhaps I really shouldn't exist? Perhaps I should just fade away? I'm worthless..."

All of a sudden realization flashed through her now visible left eye, and she stopped her rambling. She looked out of the window at the sky; the clouds had moved and thereby cleared her vision to a gigantic blue heart hanging there. An eerie smile slowly spread, her eye shone with an orange light. She had it wrong. It wasn't her who was worthless...

Years later in a world that didn't really exist, a green haired girl sat straight up in her bed. Her breath ragged and her body sweaty from the nightmare.

"Stupid heartless," she mumbled and got up. "Like I could ever forget that."

She tumbled out in her bathroom where she turned the shower on. She had have dreams before, but not since she had fully realized what she were. She closed her eyes and allowed the cold water to wash the nightmare away. She had not forgone her principles, nor had she betrayed them, she just needed the Organization's protection so she had to play nice - at least as nice as she was capable off. If Xemnas was anything like his Somebody, then with a little luck he would underestimate her long enough for her to succeed. X'ero wouldn't allow anything from her past to interfere with her life ever again.

* * *

><p>Zexion stopped outside X'ero's tombstone, determined to trick the answer about 'Master Xehanort' out of her. He knocked on it and it activated on the contact, telling him that he at least were welcome. But for how long? Asking X'ero about her past was like trying to squeeze water from a rock; very hard and very impossible.<p>

She was not in her acquired training quarters nor was she in her bedroom. Zexion's eyes narrowed: Her cloak was placed neatly folded on her bed. Had X'ero already decided that it would be better for her to ditch the Organization in spite of the dangerous enemies haunting her? The door to the bathroom opened answering Zexion, but he almost wished she hadn't come. X'ero walked wearing only her underwear, while drying her hair with a towel.

"What do you want? It's the middle of the sleeping hours..." She asked.

Zexion tried to stop focusing on the water drops, dripping down from the long side of her hair, down her neck towards her b... He forced his eyes up to her face, trying to erase all the indecent thoughts from his mind. However that didn't help either: With most of her hair wrapped in a towel, both her eyes visible and no signs of her disaster-smile, X'ero actually looked... cute. She would kill him if she knew he thought that.

"I wanted to look... _talk_ about... about..." Not just did he make a slip of the tongue, he also became more unfocused as X'ero stepped closer him.

"Zexion, are you sick? I have never heard you talking nonsense before."

She placed the back of her hand on first his forehead, then his cheek. Zexion wished that gloves were a part of X'ero's uniform - not that she was wearing her uniform. She was only wearing... He _got_ to stop thinking about that.

"You _are_ a bit warm, shall I scan you?"

She was too close, her unique smell of darkness and magic mixed with freshly rubbed on soap overwhelmed him. Forget about cute, X'ero was being downright sexy.

"That is not necessary." Zexion tried to move away, but he just couldn't-

"Okay."

X'ero moved to her bed and began to dress in the uniform.

"Whatever it is you want talk about can it wait for an hour or two, I have something to do."

"In the middle of the sleeping hours?"

Fully dressed she shook her head so her hair fell into place, her usual eerie smile appearing.

"Well, something just can't wait."

She left, leaving him alone in her room. He sat on her bed. His body felt hot. Being one of Ansem's apprentices from he was a little kid, he had rarely left the castle. Even as a teen he had been too hauled up in the studies to go outside. His love for these studies only being surpassed by Xehanort and perhaps Even. In the end those studies had prevented his body from ever leaving the teens and such Zexion's life had been unusual void of female contact. The wants of the body... if it was able to cloud the mind like that it was a power he had greatly underestimated.

* * *

><p>Xemnas was watching the broken Kingdom Hearts from his alter as Saïx was giving his report.<p>

"So in the end it got away," Saïx explained. "However, I told X'ero to trace the feathers as fast as she could. As soon she's done I will prepare every active field-team to gather the blueprints."

Xemnas nodded.

"Yes, I expect you to."

Xemnas had also expected Saïx to dismiss himself after his report but apparently something was still on Saïx's mind.

"Is there something bothering you Saïx."

"I was wondering if I could get a copy of the team-roster."

"Are you curious about whom you will be teamed with?"

Xemnas took Saïx silence as a confirmation. He turned away from Kingdom Hearts so he could better watch Saïx reaction.

"I have not finished it yet. Honestly, _you_ are the problem."

"Me?" Saïx didn't look that surprised.

"Yes, I fear that you will either disrespect whoever you end up with or overwork them."

Saïx didn't answer at first telling Xemnas that his analysis was correct, when he finally answered his answer also were as Xemnas expected.

"I respect whoever is loyal to the cause, hardworking and doesn't pretend to be more than we are."

"Yes, I know. But you standards for 'hardworking' are a bit high."

Silence spread again, it seemed Saïx had no more to say. Xemnas thought that a change of subject was in order.

"You are sure that it was X'ero's heartless? It could not be a heartless she just has been acquainted with through her powers."

"No sir, they knew each other too well and the method of spell casting was basically the same."

"Still it is strange that X'ero's magic is weaker than the magic of her heartless, it should be the other way around."

"I have no explanation for that."

"No, but the fact that her heartless is capable of that kind of logical thinking, tells us a lot about X'ero's Somebody." Xemnas paused in thoughts; somehow it irked him that another Nobody's heartless had been showed to be capable.

"X'ero, herself must have an extraordinary amount of intelligence and willpower." He finally said.

"Those attributes are normal for talented magicians."

Xemnas eyed Saïx carefully.

"Talented? Coming from you that almost sound like a compliment."

Saïx shrugged.

"It would be foolish of me to underestimate her ability."

Underestimate? It sounded almost as if Saïx was expecting to fight her at some point. Xemnas wasn't sure what to think about that. X'ero, Saïx and Zexion - something was going between them...

"Still, when we add that conversation the two of you had. I can help to think there is something going on."

"I was interrogating her about a conversation with Larxene. If she's a traitor..."

Xemnas stopped Saïx with a hand movement:

"Yes, I get it. I get it. Do you think X'ero is a traitor?"

"No, it seemed innocent enough."

Having watched Saïx carefully throughout the whole conversation, Xemnas decided that a final question was in order.

"Saïx, do you respect X'ero?"

"I have already said it would be foolish of me to underestimate her."

"That wasn't the question."

Saïx shrugged.

"She did save me from fading," he admitted. "And she's not pretending to be more than a Nobody. But I think she could put more work into our cause."

"Then it is decided. I will team you and X'ero up."

"NO!" Saïx took as step forward. "Don't do that."

"Perhaps you can give me a better explanation than Zexion as to why not?"

Saïx said nothing.

"I thought so." Xemnas once more concentrated on Kingdom Hearts. "Unless you or Zexion tells me what it is there is going on, I will assume that the three of you are capable of handling it professionally and not let it get in the way of our goals."

"Of course..."

"Good, you are dismissed."

* * *

><p>Sora was happy; finally they have gained a new gummiship, allowing them to leave Disney Castle.<p>

"Aw," he said looking out of the window. "We only have access to two worlds. Let's hope Riku and Kairi are there."

"Remember we have to go save our mechanics too." Donald said. "So we have to find a way back to _that_ world."

"Like, I could forget." Sora's face darkened. "Every time I defeat a heartless I bring the Organization one step closer to their goal."

"Haven't we told you that our gummiship runs on happy faces?" Donald smiled at Sora trying to cheer him up.

Sora answered by showing his most silly smile back.

"We'll just defeat them again. How hard can that be?"

"Look!" Goofy was pointing out into the space.

The space all around the gummiship was all of sudden filled with black feathers. Sora wasn't late to fire the gummiships cannons, but the feathers scattered avoiding all damage. Then they began to stick to the gummiship, one feather at the time until the inside was as black as the space surrounding them. Unable to see Sora aimed for the nearest world and crash landed. Keyblade in hand he rushed out ready to fight. Unfortunately for him he only felt air underneath his feet, then he fell into a world of green. Panicking Sora reached and somehow managed to catch a vine in his free hand. He knew this place. Somehow he succeeded in crash landing the gummiship in one of the treetops of Deep Jungle.

"Sora!"

Donald and Goofy stood on the same treetop as the gummiship, having a little more luck with getting out than Sora.

"I'm coming up."

Before Sora could climb up something flew fast by and drilled itself into the nearest tree trunk. A paper was stuck to the tree with one of the black feathers. Automatically Sora reached out and took the paper.

"I don't like playing fair, so keep that away from Organisation XIII," whispered a distorted voice in his ear.

Sora turned but all traces from black feathers were gone. He looked at the paper in his hand. It was a torn out piece of a blueprint of some kind of weapon.

"What's going on?" Sora asked, but no one answered him.

* * *

><p>Demyx would also like to know what was going. One moment he had been in the sweetest dream, then someone had knocked on the entrance to his quarter, and before he knew it he was pushed against the wall by furious Larxene and threatened into letting Larxene and X'ero into his room. The girls had each occupied a chair and seemed intent on not telling Demyx what they were doing.<p>

"Eh..." Demyx decided that X'ero was the least scary. "W... What are you doing?"

X'ero looked up from her bottles which all seemed to contain strange colored liquids.

"I'm mixing poisons and wondering what the lethal amount is." She smiled the scariest smile Demyx ever had seen. "Are you volunteering as guinea-pig?"

Demyx decided that Larxene was the least scary one after all, but he still wouldn't ask her anything.

A new person was trying to enter.

"Well," Larxene said. "What are you waiting for? Let him in!"

"But..." Dexym realized he had no choice. Reluctantly he opened a portal, few seconds later Marluxia stepped in. Completely ignoring Demyx he occupied the bed, leaving Demyx to stand up in his own room.

"Well, X'ero and Demyx. I'm so happy that you have agreed to join our little coup d'état."

"Whaaat?" Demyx wondered when he had agreed to that. He certainly didn't remembered it. "W... wait a moment you got the wrong guy."

The other three glared at Demyx when he protested.

"Quite the contrary," Marluxia said. "We got just the right guy."

"What?"

Marluxia got up from the bed and forced Demyx to sit down.

"How was it that you died last time?"

"Xemnas asked me to fight the keyblade master, but I did tell them that I was wrong guy to..."

"They asked you to fight even though the keyblade master is the only one who can extract hearts?"

"But... No... I don't understand."

Larxene laughed.

"Sounds like they plain out used you."

"And for what: To stall time." Marluxia bowed down so he was eye to eye with Demyx. "Is this really the people you will follow, Demyx?"

"But, you are the bad guys."

Larxene's evil laugher grew louder as to prove his point.

"We are a bunch of heartless nothings. Being the 'bad guys' are just cool."

"But it is a lot of work, and... and I will just freak out and confess to it all."

"All I asks is that you provide this room. Unfortunately our own room, are under surveillance and X'ero is new. She might not be trusted. And for the other problem: Simply don't speak to Saïx or Xemnas and it will be fine. No one will suspect _you_ of anything."

"I..."

"We would _never_ ask you to sacrifice your own life like that."

"I... I guess I'm in." Demyx dared not say anything else. The looks Larxene and X'ero sent him behind Marluxia's back told him that being turned into a Dusk was the least of his problems if he betrayed the traitors.

* * *

><p>It was not that X'ero wanted to work together with people like Marluxia. The difference between Xemnas's and Marluxia's goal was non-existing. The problem was all about power and leadership. X'ero couldn't care less who claimed to be 'Superior'. But she had, even with his new tanned skinned and slightly more silver hair, recognized Xemnas, and now that he knew she was alive she couldn't allow Xemnas to live. If he regained his memories... X'ero dared not think that thought to its end.<p>

"I hate to agree with our Superior," Marluxia's sarcastic voice interrupted X'ero train of thoughts. "But with all these enemies, we cannot afford to have the Organization halved. We must plan who to take out."

"Xemnas, of course." Larxene said. "Xigbar?"

"Couldn't care less about who is in charge."

"Xaldin?"

Marluxia was thoughtful for a moment.

"I not too sure about him, so let's blacklist him just to be sure." He said. "Vexen is happy as long he can't experiment, but he might have a personal agenda against me."

"Let's wait to decide about him. Lexaeus?"

"Loyal to his old colleague: Blacklisted."

"Zexion?"

All of sudden X'ero found that everyone was looking at her.

"I don't think Zexion will fight me." X'ero said. "But we should not tell him about it."

"Saïx is Xemnas's little lapdog." Larxene said. "He is _so_ blacklisted."

"I don't think so..." Once again X'ero was the center of attention.

It was true that X'ero had forgotten the finer details of communication with other people, but there were two traits that she could recognize in anyone: Ambition and disloyalty. What Saïx had tried to do to Zexion, clearly proved that he wasn't more loyal to Xemnas or the Organization than it suited Saïx himself, and from his near-fading X'ero had gained a good idea about of what Saïx wanted.

"Saïx's not a lap dog." X'ero said thoughtfully. "I think he's just... willing to do everything he needs to do in order to reclaim his heart."

"So what you say is, if Xemnas isn't capable of giving Saïx what Saïx wants..." Larxene began.

"Saïx will turn on Xemnas in a second..." Marluxia finished. "Interesting... and Luxord has no reason to be especially loyal to Xemnas."

"Eh..." surprisingly Demyx spoke up. "How do you guys actually plan to take the Xemnas out?"

"We lost the keyblade master." Marluxia said. "I will rather not fight him one on one."

Keyblade... For one moment X'ero looked at her hand.

"I might know of one," she said. "I once had a... make-believe keyblade called Eraser."

"You are a keyblade wielder?" Suddenly Marluxia was standing very close to X'ero.

"No! Which part of make-believe do you not understand; anyway I sort of gave it away."

"Then what good is it to us?"

"Memories are our lifeline..." X'ero paused. "When I was born I saw my heartless, it had the other half of Eraser. _My_ half of Eraser would never have done any harm to Xemnas anyway, but my heartless: It could eradicate any Nobody in no time – Theoretically."

"How do we get it?"

"Win the 'game' it in initiated. Then it will attack. My Somebody was a very sore loser, I doubt my heartless is different."

"Good," Marluxia said pulling away. "But allow me to ask one thing: What are you, X'ero? And why are you so set on killing Xemnas."

As a push on a contact, X'ero's eerie smile appeared.

"I'm Nobody of course." She said, never answering the second part of Marluxia's question.

* * *

><p>When X'ero reached her own quarters again she found Zexion sleeping on her bed, his head on a book. Somehow it didn't surprise X'ero. If she knew Zexion correct he properly had been too busy scheming and reading to sleep much since returning to the Organization. He had to feel that no attack would come from anyone in this room- X'ero carefully removed the book and placed on her table without waking him<p>

"I wonder what it was we should talk about. You are scheming something, aren't you?" She whispered careful not to wake him. A small, but for once genuine smile appeared on her face. "Of course you are, but I guess I'm not one to be talking. "

She turned away from the sleeping Zexion and walked to her window. Sure, she had a problem with Xemnas, but it wasn't him she wanted to destroy. She could see the broken Kingdom Hearts hanging in the sky. Her hand was placed over her chest and her visible eye flashed orange as she got a determined look on her face.

"Like I could ever forget."

* * *

><p>Ns (Reads the chapter): I think you have some serious issues, X'ero<p>

X'ero: You created me so stop complaining.

Zexion (Wakes up): Ns, won't you tell me what it is X'ero knows.

Ns: No! Anyway, next chapter: The hunt for the for the feathers beginns. I wonder how X'ero will react when she finds out Xemnas teamed her up with Saïx.

X'ero: WHAT! But that means I'm going to be caught between... (Prepares a darkfire.)

Ns: So I will upload the next batch of chapters next monday. I hope you guys didn't minded getting four this time.


	8. Chapter 8: Teamwork

Ns: I just discovered that I forgot to upload last week. My fault entirely.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters from Kingdom Hearts. I don't own anything from the cartoon "Beauty and The Beast" either.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8: Teamwork<strong>

It was winter in the Small Village. The new world they had arrived in. Given the cold Saïx was happy for the Organization's uniform, especially when he looked at X'ero who was constantly breathing on her bare hands in a futile attempt to keep them warm.

"You could have warned me," she said. "If I have known it was winter I would have made a potion to keep me warm."

"I didn't know. The Organization has never dealt with this world. It has only few and weak heartless - certainly not worth our time."

"Thanks to that opinion we are stuck doing all the intelligence gathering too."

"It is not my fault that you only have tracked four out of ten feathers. With the worlds presented to me I could choose between sending our team to this world or Atlantica."

"Why have I been teamed up with you anyway?" X'ero mumbled, but she quit complaining about the cold – apparently she was as willing as Saïx to get stuck with a mission in the musical world.

According to X'ero theories the feather, separated from their host, would seek out a new strong heartless or a person with a tainted heart. Given the level of heartless in this world, they were properly looking for the latter. Saïx glanced at the freezing girl.

"Can't you just make that warming potion you were talking about now?" he asked.

"...I don't have the ingredients."

"I didn't ask you this on the last mission, but why did your heartless attack us?"

"..."

Having her hood up X'ero's expression was impossible to see.

"Why did it know about my berserker ability?"

"..."

"How come its magic is stronger than yours?"

X'ero stopped and turned abruptly towards Saïx.

"What made you so chatty all of a sudden?" She tiptoed as to catch up to his high, as her smile began to show.

"Technically it is you we are fighting, so don't you think it would be appropriate to tell us the details?"

"Since you are so focused on last mission: Don't you think it's appropriate to thank someone when they save your existence?"

"If that's was bothering you..." Saïx shrugged. "Thank you."

X'ero sunk back at her heels and began walking through the snow again.

"Nice try, but I'm still not telling..."

Saïx hadn't really expected her to. He was actually not really sure why he had tried.

Suddenly X'ero stopped.

"In there," she said. "There's a person attracting darkness in there."

She was pointing towards an inn; from the sounds coming from it Saïx guessed that it was open, but it was a small inn, he doubted they could sneak in unnoticed.

"We will have to wait outside," he said.

X'ero's hood turned towards him:

"I hope that was a very bad attempt at a joke."

He shook his head on to his surprise she pulled her hood down.

"I'm not keen on freezing to death," she explained. "I'm going in."

"We are supposed to go unnoticed."

"Whatever," X'ero was already walking away.

Saïx had to actively prevent himself from running up to X'ero and simply knock her out. And Xemnas said he was the uncooperative one.

* * *

><p>X'ero watched carefully as a little guy with a big nose was trying to cheer a much larger guy up.<p>

"Dismissed! Rejected! Publicly humiliated! And on top of that she vanishes." The larger guy complained and threw two tankards into the fireplace. "Why, it's more than I can bear."

"More beer?" asked the small guy.

"What for, nothing helps." The large guys turned the chair away from his friend. "I'm disgraced."

"Who? You? Never! Gaston, you got to pull yourself together." The little guy ran in front of the larger one named Gaston again. "It really disturbs me to see you like this."

Gaston just moved his chair away again.

"Is it that hunter?" Saïx asked X'ero in a low voice, sitting beside her in the darkest corner of the inn.

"Yes," X'ero nodded. "He is attracting the darkness."

"Funny," Saïx said. "I think that girl he yearns for is one of the Princesses of Light and according to Xaldin's reports that princess is in love with a beast. I doubt she will ever return to this world. Does he really have the feather?"

"Not yet, but if he is pushed further into his despair the darkness will corrupt his heart."

"Well then, I say we target his pride." Saïx pushed X'ero up. "Go and order something and make sure to tell him your honest opinion on the way."

Three blonde girls had thrown themselves onto Gaston's chair, squealing and ensuring Gaston of his good look and manliness. X'ero snorted as she passed by earning her the attention of everyone at the fire place.

"Did you say something," one of the blondes hissed.

"I just thought about how pathetic you all are. Especially you in the chair."

Gaston got up and moved close to X'ero.

"All girls would feel lucky for me to be this close." He said and lifted her chin slightly with one hand so he could look at her better. "Especially creepy looking girls like you."

Before X'erp could fire a double darkfire straight into the chest of this irritating man, she felt two hands place themselves on her shoulders.

"Don't touch her!" Saïx slightly growled pretending to be angry.

"Who are you?" Gaston asked.

"Her friend," Saïx answered and to X'ero's surprise pulled her closer. "And I will not allow you to lay a hand on her, just because she knows what a real man is like." Saïx turned his head towards X'ero. "Isn't that right my dear? You know how what you want?"

Saïx calling her 'my dear' was already so creepy that X'ero for a second didn't know what to do. She had an idea about what he was trying to accomplice. The problem was that her failing communications abilities made it hard for her to figure out the proper response. Her eyes quickly ran over the three blonde girls.

"Oh, yes..." she said to Saïx and forced her voice into a high pitch as the other girls. "You are so... eh... strong."

"No one is stronger than me," Gaston said showing his biceps. "I eat five dozen eggs each day just to keep these muscles, but if you think you so called friend is stronger I would be more than happy to prove it."

X'ero was sure she saw Saïx slightly smirk in triumphs.

"Why don't we take it outside?" He said.

* * *

><p>From the corner of his eyes Saïx watched as X'ero slammed the door in faces of the friends of their target. She summoned her gloves and Saïx heard her mutter 'Double Blizzaga." The door completely froze, preventing others from joining their little discussion.<p>

"Let's settle this." Gaston said.

Saïx didn't answer. Instead he dashed close to Gaston and punched him hard in the stomach. Taken by surprise with the speed of his opponent, Gaston flew of his feet and into the snow.

"How weak," Saïx said. "One punch and you are down. It's no surprise Belle never even considered you."

"What do you know about Belle?"

"Let's just say that Belle is happy in another world – with a beast."

Gaston got to his feets, Saïx saw how the darkness began to surround him.

"That's right," Saïx continued. "She finds a beast much more attractive than you. In her eyes you are just a stupid useless person."

Truth to be told Saïx had no idea about how Belle saw this idiot, but as long as he could provoke him he would say anything.

"I'm...I'm..." Apparently Gaston had trouble finding the words; the darkness was now surrounding him completely. Saïx summoned his claymore.

"It's coming!" He heard X'ero say. In that second something flew by him and straight into the chest area of Gaston. The darkness disappeared, revealing a large red and black furred bear-like creature with a rifle in its left paw and for some reason black wings.

"Wings?" Saïx asked.

"I think it's the feather." X'ero answered. "It does look weird."

Saïx swung his claymore at the bear, but not surprisingly it simply blocked the attack with the right arm. A swing with said arm sent Saïx flying through the air. He barely managed to land on his feet and then he heard the sound of a firing gun. He pulled the claymore in front of him just in time to block the bullets aiming at his non-existence heart. From behind the heartless he saw X'ero preparing a spell.

"Darkfiroga!"

The tornado of blue fire aimed straight for the back of the heartless, but almost as if it had heard her it flew into the air avoiding the spell. From high up the heartless slammed into the ground, the impact sending a shockwave through the ground, causing both Saïx and X'ero to lose their balance. Saïx rolled to the side as another bullet wave aimed straight at him.

"Double Blizzaga!" From her position on the on the ground X'ero shot another ray of frost towards the heartless. This time it succeeded in freezing the wings. Saïx got to his feet and leapt into the air. The now frozen wings easily shattered under the impact. That gave Saïx an idea.

"X'ero the rifle arm..."

X'ero nodded and clasped her hands together.

"Got it," she said. "Double Blizzaga!"

Then arm froze and Saïx repeated his attack. As the left arm and the rifle fell to the ground and shattered, the right arm went straight towards him.

"Reflectoga!" The protective wind surrounded Saïx and forced the arm back.

Saïx noticed how darkness began to surround X'ero's hand, a similar darkness enveloped the heartless and it stopped moving.

"The feather is too strong," X'ero said, her body shaking. "The heartless might have weakened enough for me to control it, but not for long."

Saïx got the message; he rushed at the heartless and quickly cleaved it in two with his claymore. It fell to the ground and was dissolved in the black puddle. All there was left was a paper stuck to the ground by a black feather.

Slowly Saïx went to the spot and picked the paper up.

"It's part of the blue print." He said, content with the fact that the mission was over. He heard X'ero falling to her knees.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes. I'm just exhausted."

"You need to be more fit." Saïx stated. He paused, not really sure if this was a good idea but decided for it and walked towards X'ero. He extended his hand to her.

"However, you did do well. I guess Xemnas was right in placing us in the same team. Our abilities are a good match."

X'ero hesitated looking at the hand as if it was about to bite her. Then she reached up and grabbed it, allowing Saïx to pull her up on her feet again. Saïx didn't realize her hand.

"But I do not trust you." He said. "I know that you are going to tell Zexion everything that happens on these missions." From what he could see of X'ero's face he was close to crushing her hand. He noticed that her black glove disappeared. "Don't expect me to mess things up."

He released her.

"Brute," she mumbled, rubbing her now bare, cold and sore hand.

"Witch," Saïx said as he opened a dark portal back to the World that Never Was. "But Xemnas is right: I _do_ respect you. I trust you will handle our more 'personal' matter with professionalism."

"I have already said that's between you and Zexion. I don't want to be involved."

"Do you really think Zexion will allow that?" Saïx asked as he went through the portal.

Still in village X'ero opened and closed her hand a couple of times, checking if Saïx had broken anything.

"No," she said to herself, "I'm going to get involved, aren't I?" She sighed and disappeared through the portal.

* * *

><p>A yellow and grey dog appeared as the portal closed. Behind it followed two armored knights.<p>

"So it is as we thought," the highest one of the knights said. His armor was of male build. "Her heartless became active as soon she made contact with others of her kind. We should have tracked her to Traverse Town a lot sooner."

The smaller one with a more feminine body turned to its companion.

"Are we going to stop the heartless or are we going after the nothings?" she asked.

"We are going after the Organization – after all there is more than one old enemy in that group. The heartless is the responsibility of the keyblade master."

"...but what about the rest of the nothings, they have nothing to do with this."

"Their hearts were weak and lost to the darkness, they should not exist." The male knight clapped the Light Hound on the head. "It doesn't matter that they are nothings. All that, which has been touched by the darkness, should not be allowed to exist." He continued. "I will not stop until there is only light in the hearts of all people."

* * *

><p>Ns: If you people are Disney fanatics you might notice I changed Gaston and Lefeu conversation a bit to reflect the fact that Belle properly have been in Beast castle for a long time. The Beast is already in love with her in KH 1.<p>

X'ero: Who cares?

Ns: I do. Anyway, I will one more time say that backgrounds stories for the Birth by Sleep charcters. ( Master Xehanort, Terra, Aqua and Ven) will have nothing to do with the Birth by Sleep story, since I created this story in my head long before I knew anything about BBS. These characters will have a role to play in this story, since, well, they did exist at the end of KH 2 and it's hard to think of a past for Xemnas without them.

Xemnas (Teleports in): You know something about my past?

Ns: Uh… yes, now I do.


	9. Chapter 9:Insomnia

Ns: I guess we are going to see a bit of that scheming side of Zexion in this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9: Insomnia <strong>

When X'ero and Saïx arrived in the Grey Room they were they only one present.

"Looks like we are the first ones back," X'ero commented.

"Good," Saïx answered. "Let's make that a habit."

He seemed ready to leave.

"Wait! Could you tell me where I'm likely to find Zexion? He apparently wants to talk with me about something."

"His officially teamed up with Vexen, so try the laboratory or the library. He is also the Organization's official tactician so perhaps his is discussing some strategies with Xemnas." Saïx didn't seem so happy with that idea.

"Thank you, I will find him."

"Remember you have your own mission. You must have tracked more of the feathers by tomorrow."

"Been teamed up with you really means no break, doesn't it?"

"I'm the day-to-day-overseer of this castle I have a lot of duties to attend to, I expect you to not slow me down."

"I got it already. I'll do my duties. "

"Good." Saïx disappeared.

X'ero having absolutely no need to seek Xemnas out decided to start searching for Zexion in laboratory. It did take her some time to find it since she was not known in the castle and it was impossible to teleport to locations you didn't know beforehand, but at last she stood in front of some large door, in what appeared to be a cellar. She tried knocking and the door slowly opened. Inside she saw a blond haired man, which she believed to be number IV in the Organization.

"Are you Vexen?" She tried asking. His green eyes immediately turned to her.

"Yes, come in." X'ero didn't have a choice on the matter as Vexen grabbed her and forced her to sit down on a chair.

"You couldn't have a better a better timing, Xemnas asked me to run a generally health check on us all - after this whole fade and be resurrected experience."

"I'm not a part of that," X'ero tried to back away, which was kind of hard considering she was firmly placed on a chair with no way of escape.

"This is why I need you – as a reference."

"You can use Zexion for that. He wasn't resurrected either."

"I already have Zexion's data. I'm much more interested in you: Darkness as your primarily element, hunted by mysterious enemies, and then there is this." Vexen was not intimidated by her disaster -smile. He went close and stole the feather she just had recovered. "This is clearly from your heartless."

"How can you tell?" X'ero was pretty sure that Saïx wouldn't have told the details about her heartless to other than Xemnas, had Xemnas told the rest of the Organisation?

"I can scan people good enough to make a fully functioning replica of them just by fighting them. Do you really think that I can't see that the data of this feather's is similar to yours? You have so much potential for interesting experiments. It would be such shame to waste it."

"Don't even think about it."

X'ero forced her smile to the eeriest it could be, her orange eye light up. If Vexen tried anything, she would stop him even if she had to force one of her most lethal potions in him. She was pretty sure that Xemnas was not aware of her potion-making abilities, she could make it seem like it was just one of Vexen's experiments gone wrong.

"Why the hostility? Do you have something to hide? Is there some data you don't want me to get?"

"If there were do you really think I would tell you?" X'ero's eye shifted from Vexen to a point on the wall. "This is extremely low, Zexion."

Vexen vanished and Zexion appeared from the place X'ero was looking.

"How did you see through my illusion?" he asked.

X'ero didn't answer. Instead she quickly got up a left the room. Zexion followed.

"Wait," he said. "X'ero, I didn't intent to make you mad. It's just... you are hard to ask question. You tend to not answer them."

"I can't be mad," X'ero pointed out. "I'm just... What were you trying to accomplice?"

"As long as people believe in my illusions, they are real. I was hoping Vexen could gather some data about you where I apparently can't. "

"Zexion, when we lived in Traverse Town you never pestered my about my past as you do now. If you keep this up I will have to isolate myself from you. " X'ero looked away. "I would rather not do that." She admitted. "It would be like... like losing something important."

"But you know everything about my past. I don't like being inferior in knowledge. Besides you know something about Xemnas. Are you aware of how valuable that knowledge is?"

Zexion grabbed X'ero's shoulders:

"It's not just valuable. It's also dangerous. I would never tell Xemnas about it if it compromises you, but I want to know ... I want to know you, X'ero."

"But Zexion, you know all there is to know about the current me. Who I was, who the other me was... it's all in the past. And it shall stay there. The past is the past, it's best forgotten."

"Fine I will let it go for now."

"For now?" X'ero didn't like that. For now meant that he would just use some other method of getting the information he wanted, and next time she might not be able to see through it.

"Yes, since you apparently have no problem with the present. How do you get along with Saïx?"

X'ero shrugged.

"I think he has accepted me as part of the Organization and he tolerates me, but he made it very clear that he doesn't trust me."

"Not surprising considering you are my ally. However, when you spend a lot of time with one person you eventually trust them to... act in a certain way."

"What are you trying to say?"

"That Saïx doesn't expect a direct attack from you, but from me."

"But I won't attack him, that's too dangerous. Xemnas made it clear..."

"There are many different kinds of attacks. You don't have to break Xemnas's rule."

"The only psychological warfare I know is how to scare people, and that's not going to work on Saïx."

"Don't worry I'm a master of illusion, I can easily make up for any of your failings - although you are perfect for what I have in mind. Besides I don't want Saïx dead, I want him stripped of his rank and turned into a dusk."

"I'm not doing anything risky," X'ero said. Because of her alliance with Marluxia and Larxene, she couldn't afford unnecessary attention. Even if she did want to help Zexion.

"It's not risky at all; I just need you to tell me everything that happens on your missions."

"That's all?"

"No there are a few more minor favours I need you to do. But first you will tell me how you mission went and how you saw through my illusion."

X'ero looked at him; she guessed it was a fair trade if he stopped pestering her about the past. Besides she was fairly sure that friends were supposed to help each other out, although she could admit that she wasn't experienced in the ways of friendship.

Where did the limit of friendship go?

How much was she supposed to help?

X'ero shook the disrupting thoughts out of her head. Friends were supposed to help is other. She would help as long as she wasn't at risk. She would have to keep it as simple as that.

"All right," she said.

* * *

><p>As they walked down the hallways and X'ero told Zexion everything that happened on the mission, Zexion was celebrating inside - after all he had accomplice just what he wanted. On the laboratory floor a single black feather lay unmoving, until the real Vexen came and picked it up. X'ero had failed to notice that the feather wasn't a part of the illusion. Zexion had even gotten her to admit that it came from her heartless. and Vexen would share the data.<p>

Just holding the feather told Vexen that it was no ordinary heartless they were dealing with – Not surprising considering the girls abilities. It would indeed turn out to be some very interesting experiments. Vexen grinned insanely. It would be funny to see what Zexion could get out of this.

* * *

><p>Sora had just told Jane and Tarzan goodbye and was now climbing up to the gummiship again.<p>

"It is good to meet old friends," he said as they finally reached the top, all a little exhausted.

"Yes, but if you hadn't crash-landed I could have teleported us up in the gummiship like usual." Donald complained - after all ducks wasn't meant to climb threes.

"Don't blame me," Sora said, his arms crossed behind his head. "Blame the weird feathers."

"I wonder if they were with Organization fourteen," Goofy said.

"Thirteen!"

"They are not!" An unknown voice interrupted and two armored knights appeared out of nowhere.

Sora summoned his keyblade.

"We are not you enemies."

"Are you sure, because you guys sure look suspicions."

"We are merely here to tell you that we will deal with the Organization. You should just concentrate on the heartless."

"But if I just do that, I will just help the Organization."

"So you will not fight the heartless."

"Of course I will, but..."

"I will deal with all of the nothings, you deal with all of those touched by darkness – and I mean all of them."

"But..." The knight disappeared before Sora could finish.

"I'm so sorry," said the smaller female one. "Please excuse him. He may be rough but his intentions are pure. Please vanquish the darkness before you time is up."

"Wait!"

The female knight disappeared too.

"Gosh, Sora. Are we giving up on the Organisation?" Goofy asked.

"... Our first priority is finding our friends." Sora said. "If we just follow our hearts then everything will be all right."

* * *

><p>Four black feathers was floating in the air surrounded by what seemed to be a black sphere , sitting on her floor in a meditating position X'ero was surrounded by a black sphere too. Her mind was flooded with images of places as her dark magic reached through tiny portals and into the unknown in search for a similar magic. Finally she opened her eyes and quickly grabbed a pen and paper. She wrote down the characteristics of the places she had seen, Saïx could figure out exactly what world it was. After all X'ero didn't knew all the worlds by name. She closed her eyes again and began to fiddle with some of her potions. Stretching her magical energy so far away from her body without her gloves, was actually very hard and gave her an enormous headache. She took her shoes off and threw herself onto the bed and proceeded to close her eyes for a moment. She was sleep deprived and the mission had been exhausting. Perhaps she should sleep, but she also needed to prepare Zexion so called minor favours.<p>

"Why bother?"

X'ero shot up.

"Who's there?" She asked, even though she would recognize that warped voice anywhere.

"Why ask a question, when you know the answer?" The dark sphere containing the feathers shattered, but the feathers still hung in air.

"Heartless, if it's you then show yourself."

"Then perhaps you don't know the answer."

A green light surrounded the feathers, slightly forming a human silhouette.

"What are you?"

"An echo of hatred, rage, and bitterness. An echo of solitude. An echo of that which was willing misplaced in the darkness."

"Heart..." X'ero whispered.

"Yes. I am the echo of the heart you once had - the memories which make you nothings so unique."

"Why are you materializing?"

"Because you wished it so and the darkness granted your wish."

"..."

"All hearts are weak: That is the ultimate truth."

"..."X'ero summoned her gloves.

"The heart does nothing, but clouds the better judgment of the mind."

"Double-darkfire!" The silhouette dodged. A black and a green chain suddenly chained X'ero's hand together. "What the...? Let go of me!"

"See how other people chain you down."

"It's not true! Let me go."

"But it is how truly you think. After all..." The green light faded away to reveal that the silhouette was a complete copy of X'ero. "I am you. Your core. You long forgotten memories of emotions. That part of you which you wish most to destroy. "

"That's not... that's not how I think."

The doppelganger laughed:

"I may be nothing, but mere memories. But memories are fit to destroy a Nobody – just like our heart destroyed itself in the past."

"No it's... let me go!" X'ero couldn't stop her body from shaking. She couldn't even get her tongue to complete her words. "I... I want away... from..." Without thinking she began to summon all her power. She channeled all the magic she could muster even if she had to draw strength from her innermost darkness.

* * *

><p>Time was slowly creeping towards the sleeping hours and X'ero had yet to deliver a note with the locations of the next feathers. How did she expect Saïx to prepare the missions of tomorrow if he did not know which worlds he was supposed to send the teams to?<p>

Saïx knocked on X'ero's tombstone.

"X'ero, let me in." He commanded. She didn't answer, but the entrance wasn't locked so Saïx just went in. He found X'ero on her bed, sleeping. She was slightly whimpering as if she was having a bad dream. If that wasn't a clue that something was wrong, the dark portals randomly opening and closing and the darkness emanating from X'ero's body definitely showed that something was off. Knowing better than to touch darkness so out of control Saïx went into her bathroom and quickly reappeared with a glass of water. Resolutely Saïx tipped the glass in the air and let the water splash out on X'eros face.

"What the..." X'ero woke up a bit disorientated, but then blinked as she saw him. "Oh. I dozed off - it was nothing more than a nightmare." Then she focused on Saïx. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to find out where the feathers are. I hope that you have tracked them down."

"Yes. The note is here."

Saïx took the piece of the piece of paper presented to him.

"I have to ask: Do you often lose control with the darkness when you sleep?"

"I lost control?" X'ero looked startled. "It must be because of the nightmare."

"Do you have a lot of nightmares?"

"It started with that damn heartless."

Saïx looked at X'ero's table. Different potion bottles were nicely lined up.

"Don't you have a sleeping potion or something?" he asked.

"The small blue one – but I'm not sleeping again before that heartless is destroyed."

Saïx looked closely at her; X'ero was pale and looked badly shaken up. Dreams were not unusual for Nobodies, but refusing to sleep because of them was rather extreme and not healthy. Her body needed the rest. It was how it regained strength.

"If you don't rest your reflexes and your good judgment will go down. You could end up posing a risk to both of us. I will not allow that."

"There is really nothing you can do about that." she said as she got of her bed and began searching for her shoes. Saïx glanced at the table and took the bottle X'ero had described.

"Don't you dare!" X'ero saw him and got up in an attempt to get it from him.

Saïx simply removed the lid and lifted the bottle out of her reach. When she tried to jump up and take it, he locked her arm into a firm grip.

"You need your rest. Are you even aware of how pale you are?"

"No - and so what? It's none of your concern!"

"It is. I'm on your team."

"I don't care - and you are not drugging me with that. Are you aware of how strong it is?"

"No. Will you rest?"

"... I'm tired of nightmares."

"Then have it you way."

Saïx moved his hand to X'ero's chin, forcing her face upwards. Thanks to her weak physical powers it was easy to force a small bit of the potion into her. She tried to spit it out, but she had already sunk some of the liquid. X'ero eyes became unfocused and she was swaying. Saïx caught her as she fell towards him and placed her on the bed. This time X'ero seemed to be sleeping peacefully, but Saïx wasn't sure it was safe to leave her alone. What if her magic ran amok again? He couldn't have her opening any more unauthorized portals. Saïx sat down on X'ero's chair and began to read the descriptions, which X'ero had written down. He would prepare tomorrow's mission in here and then if nothings happen, he would assume he could leave her alone.

Two hour later as Saïx had finished preparing the mission; he turned and looked at X'ero's sleeping form. Apart from her hair colour X'ero looked rather normal in her sleep. Her creepy vibe had completely vanished and there was no darkness emanating from her body. He guessed it was safe to leave her alone. When Saïx got up he staggered a bit and for some reason his vision was blurry. He must have been more tired than he had first assumed. As he passed X'ero on the way out he stopped for a brief moment and pulled a blanket over her bare feet. Perhaps that was a mistake, his vision completely blacked out and his tired body collapsed and he fell to the floor.

On the table a small blue bottle stood without a lid, undetectably poisoning the air in the room with sleeping gas.

* * *

><p>Ns (Thinks): Perhaps you should put labels on your bottles, X'ero. Or warning signs<p>

X'ero: If I did that enemies would be capable of using my potions too. Only idiots writes every secret down.

Ns: You mean writes journals and reports and then allow the enemy to obtain said reports.

X'ero: Yes, but no one is that careless. I would never be able to work with such a person.

Ns (Hides all the Ansem Reports and Secret Ansem Reports): ... Yes that never happens. Perhaps we should just end this chapter.


	10. Chapter 10: Friendships

Ns: So next chapter. You are getting a lot this time because i forgot to upload last week which I feel bd about.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10: Friendships<strong>

"Wake up!"

Everything was so silent, so dark.

"Please, wake up!"

Why should she? Her body was heavy and there were so few thoughts. Everything was peaceful, there was nothing here. It seemed illogical to wake up.

"X'ero, don't do this. Please wake up!"

That voice belonged to Zexion, she recognized it now. She had to follow it. Using all her willpower X'ero forced her eyes open to see Zexion kneeling in her bed with what seemed to be a white cloth covering his mouth. Before she could asked what was going in, she breathed in. Her head immediately felt dizzy again and her vision began to blur.

"That idiot!" The symptoms were too familiar to her. She scanned the rooms and saw, the blue bottle standing on the table without a lid. She quickly signaled Zexion.

"The blue bottle and the yellow one." She managed to gasp.

Zexion was quick to react, he jumped over something lying on the floor and grabbed the two bottles and then hastily returned to X'ero. She mixed the contents of the bottles together and a colorless but a very strong smelling aroma filled the room. Zexion gasped and tried to cover his sensitive nose. X'ero could understand him, the smell was rather strong even for her normal functioning sense of smelling, but it cleared her head and her body began to feel lighter.

"So why are you here?" She asked as she began to feel normal again.

"When I woke this morning I smelled something unusual from your room so I thought it better to check it out."

"I'm surprised you could smell it - it's supposed to be undetectable for the nose."

"I have a very sensitive nose and you used me as a guinea pig once when we lived in Traverse Town. Remember?"

"Yes, that is true." X'ero did remember doing something like that a month or two after meeting Zexion for the first time. "It's good you came, though, or else I might have ended up sleeping for weeks. Thank you."

Zexion reacted in a strange way; his blue eyes widened a little and it felt like he moved a little closer.

"You smiled," he said. "You actually smiled." He sounded like it was something he never had seen before.

"I can't have smiled!" X'ero protested waving her hands in front of her face. "I mean: I wasn't trying to scare you away or plotting something sinister or... anything, really."

She swore she could hear Zexion sigh and then he suddenly continued to act weird by placing one of his hands on top of hers.

"X'ero, you are a very intelligent girl, but your logic is much strange in certain areas."

"My ... logic?"

"Yes..." Zexion said and moved a little closer. "When I said you smiled I didn't mean your usual 'disaster'-smile. I meant a real smile?"

"A... real smile?" X'ero was not sure she was capable of such a feat.

"Yes," Zexions other hand moved slowly towards X'ero's face. "You seem to have a very strange idea about human interaction."

"What has that to do with anything?"

"I was just wondering," Zexion said. His hand brushed against her cheek. "How you would interpret it if I..." Zexion's face was extremely close. "tried to..."

A groaning sound disturbed them. X'ero moved away from Zexion and looked over the edge of the bed to see Saïx waking up on the floor.

"Saïx is still here?" She asked surprised.

"Yes, it was when I found him knocked out on the floor and you lying still in the bed I assumed that it was serious." Zexion dryly commented.

Saïx slowly rose from the floor, he looked around confused.

"Why was I on the floor?" He asked.

"Because you nearly put us in a permanent coma." X'ero answered. Her normal 'disaster'-smile back on. "Have you never learned how to behave around poison?"

"That wasn't a part of my education." Saïx said. "Now if you will excuse me, I have duties to attend to."

The two other Nobodies watched as Saïx, still a bit groggy, left X'ero's quarters.

"You know I have been bothered about something for a while now." X'ero said. "You told me Saïx had an ally in the Organization, but he doesn't seem to be allied with anyone here."

"Apparently he left the Organization." Zexion said.

"Saïx was allied with the traitor?" X'ero asked surprised. "But that is compromising to his position. That sounds so unlike Saïx."

"Well," Zexion said in smug tone. "If you want to be a master manipulator you have to be able to predict the actions of foe and allies alike. Saïx failed at that. You have to know who to trust."

"Do you trust me?" X'ero asked while looking slightly away. "Can you predict my actions?"

"Of course I trust you," Zexion said. "And I know how you usually react."

X'ero looked at her hands. She couldn't help but think about her alliance with Marluxia and Larxene, what if she accidently endangered Zexion by her actions, was that betrayal? She closed her hands. No, now she was doing it again. She couldn't allow herself to let another person change her actions in a new direction. If she did that, she was as weak as her Somebody had been. Her friendship with Zexion was a friendship of the mind - not of the heart, so it should not be able to chain her down.

"Zexion," she said. "I'm glad we met after becoming Nobodies."

"What?"

"If we had met before losing our hearts, my heart would surely have destroyed our relationship."

"We have a relationship?"

"Of course, we are friends, right?

"I know, I meant." Zexion looked away. "What kind of friends exactly?"

"There exists different kind of friendship?"

Zexion sighed.

"We better get to the Grey Room."

"Wait," X'ero said, hurriedly following Zexion. "What was that about? You usually explain yourself." Zexion didn't answer.

"You know you have been acting very strange lately." X'ero complained, but Zexion still ignored her.

* * *

><p>"This door is far too small," X'ero establish as she examined the small door in the Bizarre Room in Wonderland. "We will never fit through. My <em>hand<em> won't fit through."

"We are supposed to drink from one of this," Saïx said, pointing to one of the small bottles standing on the table. "Then we will shrink."

Truth to be told Saïx still had a headache from that sleep potion and he was not eager to begin drinking another magical drink anytime soon. X'ero, however, acted like nothing had happen. Apparently she wasn't troubled by the whole affair. Saïx closed his eyes and tried massaging his temple - if only that damn headache would go away.

"Saïx, are you all right?"

"Yes."

"... I don't believe that. You have a very pained expression."

"It's none of your concern."

"Kneel!"

"What?" Saïx opened his eye and looked at X'ero. Surely he had heard her wrong.

"Kneel, I said!" X'ero repeated herself, so he heard hear correctly the first time.

"Why?"

"You are taller than me." X'ero's eerie smile crept back on as her eye began to glow. Saïx kneeled down one knee; he didn't want to deal with an ill intended X'ero right now.

X'ero placed a hand on his forehead.

"So you have a headache," she noted. "How about your body: Is it heavy?"

"No." Saïx wondered if X'ero was scanning him - if she was he couldn't tell. She proceeded to check his eyes by dragging his eye lids up. It was not especially pleasurable.

"Your eyes are fine too." She said. She took her pouch and handed Saïx a yellow bottle.

"My sleeping potion is meant to be drunken – not inhaled. It is actually more dangerous when inhaled because you don't notice the symptoms until you succumb to the poison and that can produce unknown side effects."

"How reassuring," Saïx said while he looked at the bottle she had handed him. "And what is the side effect of this one?"

"It's a general antidote to most of my poisons, but don't drink too much it is a little toxic in itself. "

"Again: How reassuring."

X'ero ignored Saïx sarcasm and he took a short sip from the bottle. Like the last thing she had forced into him it tasted horrible, but it got rid of the headache.

"Thanks," he said as he attempted to hand the bottle back to her, but she refused accepting it.

"You should keep it. Who knows it if you get poison with something from my room again? Besides this was my fault."

Saïx was mildly surprised at X'ero's words. As far as he remembered, he had forced the drink into her.

"I mean you were right." X'ero tried explaining. "The sleeping potion did help me to a dreamless sleep. I should have administrated it myself. I was acting completely illogical."

"... I was in the wrong too. It was not my intention to harm any of us."

"Good - Now show me how to shrink." Was it Saïx imagination or was X'ero being eager about something?

"Are those cards?" X'ero asked disbelieving as they watched the two guards standing at the entrance to the labyrinth.

"Yes," Saïx said. "Are we looking for a heartless this time?"

"There are a lot of heartless here, so I assume...yes."

"Shall we look in the labyrinth or the forest?"

"The forest, I think."

* * *

><p>Because of his affinity to the moon, Saïx always chose to arrive at night in the worlds where the Organization knew the sun and moon cycles beforehand, and thus, thanks to the dark, it was not hard for them to sneak past the cards and into the wood.<p>

"This forest is amazing." X'ero suddenly said. There was a bounce in her step and a higher pitch in her voice which wasn't forced on.

"What's going on?" Saïx asked. Her comment seemed a bit out in the blue.

"Can't you feel it? This world is vibrating with magic." She placed her hand on an enormous mushroom. "It's so creative; I have only ever known destructive magic. This mushroom... oh and that flower... and that one..." X'ero was now running around in the forest, seemingly scanning the flora. Saïx had never seen her so enthusiastic. He himself couldn't feel it, but he had never been keen on the magic abilities. But just because she was good a magic it didn't give her an excuse to act so... unusual.

"We have a job to do here," he reminded X'ero in a sharp tone.

"I know," she said, sounding a little disappointed. "But could you do me a favour?"

"A favour?"

"When we are finished with the mission, can you give me some time to sample some ingredients from this forest? I would like to examine it further."

"Why?"

"Because it is magic! It is magic I have never seen before; I have to learn about it."

"...If we find the feather fast." Saïx reluctantly asked. He had no idea why he was giving in to her request - expect it wouldn't be a bad thing having her owe him a favour, even if it was just a small one, and it was different to see her so eager about something.

"Thank you, I really appreciate..." X'ero froze. Just like Saïx she had seen something moving on top of the large toadstools.

"Was that a heartless?" Saïx asked as he summoned his claymore.

"No," X'ero summoned her gloves. "I don't think so. One of the cards?"

"Only if they suddenly got very agile." Saïx said. "I think it went behind that three."

The two nobodies looked at each other and nodded, signaling that they were ready for the fight.

"If you are an intelligent creature show yourself," X'ero demanded. Two wheels-looking weapons of fire flew through the air, heading straight for X'eros head. She ducked just in time as the burning weapons turned in the air and returned to their sender. Saïx grip around the claymore tightened.

"Axel," he just said.

"Aren't you sharp today?" Axel said mockingly as he appeared. "But then again, so have you always been."

Axel was still wearing black, but it was no longer the Organisation cloak. Instead it was just normal black clothes. At least Saïx hoped it was normal clothes and not some kind of magical fairy-enhanced clothes like the keyblade master's.

"Who is this guy," X'ero asked Saïx.

"A traitor." Saïx answered.

"He is _that _Axel?" X'ero asked. Saïx couldn't help but think what exactly Zexion had told X'ero about Axel.

"Yeah," Axel said. "You better have it memorized, Greenie."

"... My name is X'ero."

"Zero, huh," Axel looked at her. "And what are you, Zero? Another one of Vexen little experiments? A newly created weapon? A new improved way to gather hearts?"

"W... what?" X'ero seemed confused. Saïx hastily moved in front of her.

"Stay back," he told X'ero. "This has nothing to do with you."

His actions weren't lost on Axel.

"Are you protecting her? Then I guess that she isn't just a thing to you?"

"X'ero is a_ true_ Nobody and currently she is important to the Organization's goal." At least her heartless was important, giving the fact that it had run of with the blue print.

"Really," Axel said and mockingly waved a finger at Saïx. "And you of all people are just out in the field doing missions with just another Nobody. I leave the Organization for a few days and you change into a team player. Now - that's a surprise."

"It's not your business." Saïx readied his claymore. "You were a fool the moment you chose to reveal yourself... Lea."

"Original names: we are really being serious today." Axel snapped his fingers and all of the closed flower heads except one burned up.

"Why is he burning the flowers?" X'ero asked. Saïx shook his head. He wasn't really sure. Axel took a potion up from a pocket in his new clothes.

"These flowers are much nicer than most in the Organization – not that it says much." He threw the potion up to the closed flower head. It's leafs opened and Axel was surrounded by a white mist. Both Saïx and X'ero made big eyes as he grew back into his normal size. The last flower was quickly burned too, trapping both Saïx and X'ero in miniature size.

"Now" Axel laughed . "Now we are being serious...Isa."

* * *

><p>Ns: Every time I read this fight I feel like Axel is kind of cheating.<p>

Axel: The best way to win is never cheating-


	11. Chapter 11: Limit Break

Ns: What to say about this chapter... X'ero really don't like the cheshire cat.

Ns: Also. In regard to this chapter. What do you guys think about my fights. Sometimes when I reread them I think that I have a tendency to make my characters overanalyze their moves - in other words that they think to much in a relative short span. For further writing it would be nice to know if you guys agree.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the charcters related to Kingdom Hearts

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11: Limit Break<strong>

When you are no larger than the size of the average playing card small fires could be lethal and Axel was not a man who kept things small when he could make them big. The leaves on the threes were burning, all the plants and mushroom were burning, even the forest moss on the ground were burning making it hard to move around, therefore X'ero chose to take advantage of the only benefit of being small and hid herself in a small fracture in a huge rock. She had lost sight of Saïx in the inferno, and she had no intention to leave her hiding place. Cowardly perhaps, but X'ero was not about to risk her non-existence just because her teammate might be in danger, Saïx was a big boy, he could look after himself.

It felt like the earth shook as the large Axel passed by. X'ero pressed herself deeper into the fracture letting the shadows cover her while she hoped that Axel wouldn't notice. As far as X'ero could think there were only two ways to get out of this battle alive. Either she or Saïx had to return to their normal size or Axel had to become small again. X'ero wasn't sure how to do either. They had become small by drinking from that bottle on the table in the Bizarre Room. She mentally pictured the table: Hadn't there been another bottle on it? That was it! She had to make it back to the Bizarre Room.

X'ero crept out from her hiding place and began looking for an exit. The original entrance was blocked by flames, but she thought she could see an exit higher up in a big tree. She ducked her head and ran as fast as she could through the wood, trying not to let the heat bother her. To reach the hole in the tree she had to climb higher. She chose three, relative not-burning, mushroom and began jumping higher by moving from mushroom till mushroom. On top of the highest mushroom X'ero took a moment to look down. Normally she had no problem with highs, but as she looked down into the flames she felt her knees going weak. A sound of something flying through the air made her look up.

One of the giant burning chakram was heading straight for her. X'ero's body froze with her knowledge of the fact that her normal 'reflectoga' –spell would be useless against such a large weapon. Instinctively she covered her head with her arms and closed her eyes waiting for the impact.

And she felt an impact, but to her surprise it came from the side and not from the front. Because she no longer felt the mushroom under her feet X'ero opened her eyes.

"Saïx?" she said as she realized that he had rushed in, grabbed her and jumped down from the mushroom. The she glimpsed at his right shoulder. "Saïx, you are burning!"

"..." Saïx said nothing as they landed on the ground. Without dropping X'ero, he rushed around a corner and hid them behind a rock. First then did he release her. X'ero wasted no time, she clasped her hands together.

"Blizzaga." She aimed the spell at Saïx's shoulder. The ice melted into water, but at least the fire died out. The cloth covering the shoulder had already been burned through allowing X'ero to see the flesh underneath. It was not a pretty sight. Saïx was clearly seriously wounded.

"Don't worry," he said. "It's not fatal, the fire from his weapon only brushed me ... You shouldn't happen to know a cure-spell?"

X'ero shook her head.

"Then it doesn't matter." Saïx glared at her. "What were you thinking, exposing yourself to attacks like that?"

"I..."

"Don't ever do that again!"

"But..."

"The whole point of these teams is to keep the dead tolls low. How do you think it would reflect back at me if I were the first to lose a partner? What _were_ you thinking?"

"... There is an exit in that tree."

"NO!" If Saïx wasn't glaring at her before he definitely was now. "We are NOT abandoning this mission."

"I wasn't..."

"Those who fail their mission are worthless to the Organization."

X'ero was very close to point out, that this was a situation far beyond their control. However, even she could tell that she shouldn't provoke Saïx right now.

"...Saïx, I wasn't going to run away. I wanted to go to the Bizarre Room, because I wanted the growing drink. If we could just grow up to Axel's size the battle wouldn't be that hard."

Saïx looked at her judgingly.

"I will distract Axel, so that you can escape." He finally said.

"Watch out, you are wounded."

"Thanks for telling me, I really hadn't noticed that." Saïx paused; he kept looking at X'ero intently.

"What's the matter?" X'ero asked nervously.

"Just... be sure to come back. I... will be in trouble if you don't."

"I promise that..."

"Don't promise anything." Saïx closed his eyes in pain as he hesitantly tried moving his wounded shoulder. "We just don't have the hearts to be true to a promise..."

Saïx rushed back into the battle and as soon as Axel's attention was engaged X'ero used the opportunity to sneak away from the forest. At the edge of the forest X'ero glanced shortly over her own shoulder. Then she disappeared.

* * *

><p>The Bizarre Room was really... bizarre. First X'ero appeared in the room through a painting in the wall, the wall now functioning as floor. Since she needed to reach the floor while it was a floor, she went through another opening of sorts and ended up standing on the ceiling. She was very close to screaming in frustration, she did not have time for this. She rushed through another portal, if she didn't end up on the floor this time; she wasn't sure what exactly what she would do, but it would be drastic. Covered in soot X'ero appeared from the fireplace. Brushing off dirt she allowed herself to curse, while she tried getting her brain to focus on the positive aspect that she at least was on the floor.<p>

She quickly climbed the chair and reached the top of the table. Fishing out two empty potion bottles from her pouch, X'ero prepared to take the drink with her, but as soon as the bottle came in contact with liquid it grew until it was back at its original size.

"Why," X'ero groaned. "What is wrong with this world?"

"What is wrong? Or is it you who are wrong?"

"What the..." X'ero looked around. A fat striped cat was suddenly making itself comfortable on the chair, while it grinned at X'ero.

"Eh... who are you?" X'ero asked.

"Me of course, or perhaps I'm no more me than you are really you."

"Are you talking about me being a Nobody?"

"Oh, but we are all nobodies." The cat somehow succeeded in covering its body with it tail, disappearing. It reappeared on the table beside X'ero. "Or perhaps we are all somebody to someone."

"You are making absolutely no sense," X'ero complained while rubbing her temple with a finger. "Can't you just tell me how take some of that growing potion with me into the forest?"

"Objects cannot be moved. In the forest flowers make big, while feathers make small."

"What?" Now the cat really didn't make sense to X'ero.

"What what?"

"What did that mean?"

"That means that."

"No, what did you mean by what you said."

"What did I say?"

"Flowers makes big and feathers small."

"What does that mean? Are you sure you are right in your head?"

"That's it! You are dead!" The gloves on X'ero's hands burst into black feathers, the orange light in X'eros visible eye turned crimson as the feathers began to swirl around her arms. Blue sparks of dark fire occasionally adding the only colour to the black magical energy.

The striped cat vanished one stripe after another.

"Magic is magic." With that final sentence the mouth of the cat finally disappeared.

X'ero studied the change in her body with wonder. This had to be the so called "Limit break", which Zexion once had explained to her. She had never experienced it before since her battles usually either ended with her relatively unharmed or completely knocked out. Pushing her body or self restraint to the last resort like this was really not usual for her. And it really was a last resort. X'ero could feel how her energy was being rapidly drained; she could not uphold this form for long without risking her very non-existence. Trying to figure out what exactly had changed within her abilities, X'ero looked around, only to discover that that her already excellent scanning ability had greatly improved. She could now see the magic energy flowing in this world and it was really quite different from her own. What she would give to study it. She shook her head, she hadn't time to think about magic right now. X'ero scanned the feathers circling her and her ill-intended smile spread. Perhaps if the feathers were working as she thought, she wouldn't need to bring the portion along, but she needed to act now, before her new source of power ran out.

* * *

><p>Saïx jumped just as the branch he was standing on was cut down by a chakram. He landed in safety on a stone, but had to immediately leap down on the ground to avoid a fireball. The good thing about being small was that he was harder to hit. The bad thing was that, even with his stamina, Saïx couldn't keep dodging forever, besides Axel was systematically burning the forest down, eliminating the hiding places one by one. Saïx briefly allowed himself to glance at one of the portals out of the forest.<p>

"You really think she's coming back?" Axel asked mockingly. "I don't know why you allowed her to run away, but if she's anything like the rest of the Organisation, she ditched you."

"..."

If he had to be honest, Saïx knew that Axel was right. No one in the Organization was willingly to risk their existence for another member, and X'ero, who generally disliked others, were properly not going to be the one to start a new tradition.

A burning tree log toppled to the ground, blocking the path forward. Saïx turned around only to face a huge wall of fire slowly heading in his directions. Saïx quickly assessed his chances of avoiding the attack. There was nothing to hid behind or jump up on. The flame wall was too wide, even with his speed Saïx wouldn't be able to run around it. In that moment Saïx actually considered opening a dark portal and abandoning the mission. But he realized that it wasn't an option. He was simply too small to open not to mention pass through the dark portals, but that meant that there was no way to avoid the flame attack. And considering the scale of the attack his chances of surviving were slim. Saïx usual calm face didn't show his realization. He summoned his claymore as he felt the heat of the fire wall approaching. It was of useless against the fire and his sword arm felt numb because of his wounded shoulder, but if he had to go down he would at least go down fighting.

A could breeze formed somewhere behind Saïx and black feather began to surround him. Saïx looked over his shoulder for a moment before everything went black. When the feathers disappeared again, Saïx realized that not just had he been teleported to another place in the forest, but he had also returned to his normal size.

"X'ero?" Saïx looked surprised at X'ero.

Black feathers swirling around her arms and her visible eye now red, X'ero looked different.

"Limit break?" Saïx more stated than asked.

"I think so," X'ero mumbled. "It seems that these feathers absorb and cancel magic energy, no wonder I couldn't harm my heartless."

It was first then Saïx noticed that she was swaying.

"X'ero?"

"I know it's pathetic, but I have never done this before." Her eye began switching its colours between red and orange. "You'll have to handle the rest of the fight."

The feathers disappeared and X'ero slumped forwards. Saïx quickly moved so that she would fall against his good shoulder. Supporting her body with the left arm, he looked around for a safe place to lay X'ero down when his eyes locked with Axel's. Now that he thought about it, it was unusual for Axel to say nothing for a whole minute.

"What?" Saïx asked.

"I was just wondering. You shouldn't happen to be looking for this?" Axel suddenly had a black feather and a roll of paper in his hand. "They kinda seem to belong to your little friend."

"Where did you get that?" Saïx said, ignoring both the "little" and the "friend" comment.

"I was attacked by a weird heartless as soon as I arrived in this world, and it seemed such a shame to leave the spoils of the battle behind."

"Hand it over! Now!"

"Sure!" Axel threw the feather and the blueprint to Saïx who easily caught it in spite of his injury.

"That was too easy."

"Ha, I just pick my battle wisely."

Saïx kept quiet even though 'wise' wasn't word he would choose to describe his former friend – not with the choices he had made.

"Besides," Axel continued pointing to the sleeping X'ero. "You always did attract the interesting types."

That alarmed Saïx.

"Why are you dragging X'ero into this?"

Axel rubbed the back of his head.

"Because it seems fitting."

"Fitting?"

"You can't make me believe that, this 'Zero' lost her heart in the usual way. Not with that heartless, which attacked when I arrived here. This girl gotta have a really interesting heartless out there somewhere."

"Is there really are usual way to lose once heart?" Saïx asked, quickly changing the subject from the heartless of X'ero.

"Perhaps not, but that is not the question. The question is: What does it take to break this girl down?"

"How many times must I say it? X'ero is an ordinary Nobody. She's not a thing you can..." Saïx paused. Perhaps he should not go there. "... Leave her out of it Axel. She has just joined the Organization and has no relation to you, Roxas or...XIV. Don't make an enemy of her, you _will_ regret it."

"We made enemies the moment she joined the Organization." Axel reached out and opened a portal with his hand. "Now if you will excuse me, I have just met this girl and I need to research her past and her darker side a little. We can always catch up later."

Axel vanished through the portal. Saïx looked after him, and then shifted his eyes to the unconscious X'ero still in his grip. He moved his shoulder, moving X'ero's body slightly, so that it wasn't heavy.

Axel was making mistake. Even if he somehow succeeded in finding out something about the past X'ero or her heartless, X'ero would be more than capable of dealing with him herself. He packed away the feather and blueprint in the bag pack.

Axel may have gotten away, but at least they had completed the mission. No one had to know that they had encountered Axel without killing him. All Saïx needed was to make up a good excuse for his serious burn mark.

Saïx looked at X'ero once more. She really was just an ordinary Nobody, right? An ordinary and dangerous Nobody, who wasn't going to be happy when she found out that she was being targeted by a renegade because of him.

* * *

><p>Ns: I really hate that firewall attack of Axel's in Chain of Memories. In the GBA version it was unavoidable unless you used cardbreak. The only good thing about it was that it was so slow that I had the time to reload the deck. (Keeps rambling)<p>

X'ero (Glares):... Why I'm I geting mixed up in this Saïx-Axel business.

Ns: because you are teamed up with Saïx. It would have happend sooner or later.

X'ero: I prefer later. Much later .


	12. Chapter 12: Attraction

Ns: One of the 'lighter' chapters in this history. It is nice to have such a chapter when the rest of the fic is so... dark, I guess.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12: Attraction <strong>

Every particle in X'ero's body was protesting against her opening the eyes and slowly sitting up. Running her hand through the long side of her green hair, X'ero tried to recollect why she woke up in the infirmary instead of her own bed. She remembered Wonderland and that other Nobody... Axel - or something like that. Then there was a lot of fire and a really irritating cat and... she had... she had gone into a limit break. X'ero looked at her hands. That was right she had felt that power; a faint echo of a forgotten strength. She really needed to train it; it could be useful in her current situation.

Resting her body on the bed once more X'ero thought the rest of the events through: Once she had figured out how to work with the feathers, she had teleported back into the forest just in time to get Saïx out of trouble, and then she had blacked out. She had a faint recollecting of Saïx catching her and pieces of a conversation she barely had heard through the dark:

"...did attract the interesting types."

"Fitting?"

"...What does it take to break this girl down?"

"...an ordinary Nobody. She's not a thing you can..."

"Now if you will excuse me, I have just met this girl and I need to research her past and her darker side a little. We can always catch up later."

The last part of the conversation was especially clear to X'ero, because Saïx's grip around her body at point had been so firm that he actually had been close to wake her up. She placed her hand on her side where Saïx's arm had been. It was indeed sore. X'ero narrowed her eyes. Not just did Saïx have a bad habit of forgetting (or ignoring) the fact that her body wasn't suited to withstand brute force, he had also somehow made sure that she had gained a whole new enemy.

X'ero swung her legs over the bedside, determined to find Saïx and tell him exactly how grateful she was that he had gotten her into another mess when the door to the infirmary was literally kicked up.

"Larxene?" X'ero said surprised. "What happen?"

"Those damn keyblade-monsters happen." Larxene shouted furiously. "They just came out of nowhere and tried to do us in."

"Are you hurt?"

"Nah... I just used up all my potions, so I came here to restock. The moogle always hide itself whenever it sees me, so I have to get my supplies from here."

"Why is the moogle afraid of you?"

"Do you honestly want to know?"

"No... I actually don't."

Larxene laughed.

"So why are you here?" she asked sitting down on the bed, seemingly in no rush to leave X'ero alone.

"I used up to much energy. I guess Saïx brought me here."

"Though luck, but better than almost being shot down by flying keybirds."

"Yes," X'ero agreed. "I just wish that Saïx would stop handling me so roughly. I'm a magician not a fighter. My body is really not suited for it."

X'ero stopped complaining when she saw Larxene expression. Few seconds later Larxene burst into laughter.

* * *

><p>Saïx actually wasn't too far away. At the back of the infirmary he was inspecting his shoulder wound while listening in on the girls' conversation, just in case it got out of hand or something treacherous was discussed.<p>

Hearing where the conversation was headed, Saïx soon wished that they were stupid enough discussing coup plans.

"I just wish that Saïx would stop handling me so roughly. I'm a magician not a fighter." X'ero complained. "My body is really not suited for it."

Saïx froze, that sentence was so easy to misunderstand and she was saying it to Larxene of all people. When he heard Larxene's laughter Saïx knew that she had every intention of misunderstanding the sentence on purpose. He hurried to where he had placed X'ero to break the conversation up. Even in middle of her laughing fit Larxene noticed him.

"Speaking of the devil," Larxene said in a smug tone. "Are you here to stop our gossiping? Because if you think you can prevent two normally functioning girls from discussion you guys... attributes, then you are sorely mistaking."

Before Saïx had the change to cut Larxene of, X'ero was asking:

"Attributes?" She was seemingly confused.

"Yes," Larxene took the opening X'ero offered her. "Why don't you tell me about some of Saïx's... moves?"

"Moves? But do you not how Saïx..."

"No, I have never experienced if first handed with Saïx."

"F... first handed?"

"Yes..." Larxene leaned closer as if she and X'ero were school girls sharing secrets about their first love. "Tell me all about it. How is his... sword? Oh and does he turn berserk doing the act?"

The way Larxene spoke the words out loud clearly indicated that it was neither his claymore nor his fighting abilities Larxene was talking about, besides she was shooting him a challenging look.

"The act? What... Mphf!"

Remembering the conversation with Xemnas that had led him to be teamed up with X'ero in the first place, Saïx hastily placed his hand over X'ero's mouth to efficiently prevent her from answering Larxene. He didn't want to imagine what kind of horrifying, easily misunderstood and humiliating answers X'ero could come up with if he allowed her to answer.

"I advise you to stop this game," Saïx threatened. "Remember that I am the one who issues the missions."

"I'm not easily scared," Larxene claimed. "I wonder what Xemnas would say if someone told him that the two of you are alone in the infirmary and you are wearing nothing but your trousers."

It was true that he had taken the cloak of. It had been burned down and needed to be replaced and he had to inspect his wound, but it was only his torso which were bare, surely there was nothing to misunderstand about the situation.

"Xemnas would never listen to anything you say." Saïx pointed out.

"That's properly true." Larxene thought for a moment before grinning evilly. "But I could tell Xigbar."

Saïx tensed. If Xigbar got this kind of information on his hands he was never going to stop nagging Saïx about it- just for the heck of it. From X'ero's equally tense posture Saïx could tell that she was properly thinking the same. The fact that she was constantly yanking his arm to get him to remove his hand told Saïx that she was eager to interfere in the conversation again. He refused to move his hand, he dared not let Xero speak.

"I really advise you against that course of action." Saïx voice lowered to a dangerous sounding level. "You are purposely misinterpreting the situation. If you don't stop right now, Xemnas will suddenly get word that you are somehow meeting with Marluxia and plotting another coup."

Larxene's eyes narrowed, and perhaps was it just his imagination, but it felt like X'ero was pulling in his arm a bit stronger.

"So it is all a misinterpretation, huh?" Her green eyes adopted a serious and mean showed no signs of backing down. "So you never even thought about it - how boring. Perhaps we should remedy that."

"MMMPHHFF!" Behind Saïx's hand X'ero was shaking her head furiously.

"Just try to imagine it," Larxene lowered her voice to a whisper. "Her body beneath yours, the feeling of her lips caressing your skin, her legs wrapped around your body. The taste of her skin... the smell of her body overwhelming your senses... her voice moaning only your name as she is completely at your mercy..."

Never in any of Saïx's lives had he removed himself so fast from a female. It was not that he had pictured any of that which Larxene had described... he had not. He just needed some... distance between X'ero and himself. He eyes caught Larxene's and he saw the gleam of satisfaction in her green eyes. They both knew that he had lost this weird battle by reacting at all to Larxene's words.

Free from Saïx hand and thus capable of speaking clearly X'ero seemed to have trouble forming the words she wanted.

"I...I..." Her hands were shaking with the memory of suppressed anger. Suddenly her disaster-smile light up. "Larxene, you better run now and run fast, because I have some very slow-working and very painful toxins that I just have been dying to try on a Nobody."

"... I think I have plans in the opposite part of the castle, bye!" Larxene disappeared in a portal.

"Just wait till I catch up with you." X'ero quickly followed Larxene – apparently not tired anymore.

As the only one back in the infirmary Saïx wasn't sure what kind of action he should take, but it involved sending Larxene's team out on impossible and hopefully suicidal mission.

Saïx sighed. He needed to act professionally and just forget that this disturbing conversation had taken place, and then he needed a cold shower to... clean his wound, before he applied the elixirs... not because of other reasons.

* * *

><p>Perhaps it was a mistake to hold today's briefing in the Throne Room instead of the Alter, Saïx seemed... distracted and if Xemnas hadn't known Saïx he would have sworn that number VII occasionally was sending death glares at number XII's throne.<p>

"So let me get this right," Xemnas said a little sharper than he intended. "All four team were attacked by these Light Hounds?"

"Not exactly the Hounds," Saïx explained. "Number II and XI were attacked by miniature dragons, III and XII by some kind of birds, IX and X by what they described as walking plants." Saïx paused for a moment. "Finally X'ero and I were attacked by some kind of... fire elementals."

"It seems our unknown enemies have gotten serious. Were there any casualties?"

"Some of us were lightly wounded, but nothing serious and everyone succeeded in bringing back their blue-prints. We are only missing two now."

"Good..." Xemnas watched Saïx carefully, but the other showed no further signs of unusual behavior. He was sitting on his throne, his legs crossed in his usual manner while he waited for further instructions.

"If there is nothing more you need to tell me," Xemnas continued, still watching Saïx. "You are dismissed."

"I will make sure that the last two blue-prints are gathered as fast as possible." Saïx answered teleporting out. Xigbar appeared on his own throne as soon as Saïx was gone.

"What did I tell you, Boss?" he said.

"He did not mention Axel in any way."

"I would say he used the attacks on the others as a cover."

"It seems so, the question is why?"

"Perhaps he just doesn't want to admit that he let Axel escape." Xigbar suggested helpfully.

"Perhaps... The problem is that it seems to be a habit. Went he went to retrieve Kairi he encountered Axel too and Axel got away."

"You are not questioning Saïx's loyalty, are you, Boss?"

"I would rather not, he is useful, but we did suspect that Axel and he were..."

"Up to something?" Xigbar suggested. "If they were allied, they sure aren't anymore."

"I know, I know. It's just... Saïx is focused on the past, I fear that his judgment on the matter might be a clouded."

"What are you going to do about it, Boss?"

"Saïx's position in the Organization is defined by his practical sense and his sound judgment. For now we will watch him closely, if his judgment keeps failing him we'll need to rethink his position."

"No worries. I just love to spy on our members and discover all of their dirty little secrets."

"I just wished you had an equally love of telling me everything you know."

"You could just ask, Boss."

Xigbar teleported out, few seconds later he appeared in X'ero's room.

* * *

><p>X'ero was working with her potions, apparently still as rattled as she had been when she literally had run into him earlier that day, chasing Larxene for some reason.<p>

"It's good to see you in such a nice mood, Princess."

X'ero turned around, her eerie smile in place.

"What did I say about calling me that," she started, but then she paused. "Wait, why are you here?" Her smile got a little bit creepier. "Zexion?"

Xigbar disappeared and Zexion reappeared in his place.

"You saw right through my illusion?" He said sounding surprisingly happy about it.

"Why are you posing as Xigbar?"

"I have never been one to care for politics or running around with gossip. Xemnas would be suspicious if I started now, but Xigbar is a person who knows everything and occasionally even tells what he knows."

"Judging from you smug behaviour I take that everything went well." X'ero stated.

Zexion nodded and sat down on one of the chairs and grabbed a book he had placed in X'ero's room on a sooner occasion.

"I'm happy to see that you are comfortable enough to just leave your stuff in my quarters," was the dry comment from X'ero.

Zexion opened his book.

"What made you so nice today?" He asked as he began reading.

"It's been a bad day."

"Axel?"

"That pyromaniac was... irritating, but it was really Larxene who made the day. I got involved in a rather creepy conversation."

Zexion closed his book.

"Creepy? You found something creepy?" This he had to hear.

"I really don't want to talk about it."

"But you have to." Zexion moved his chair close to X'ero. "After all it was you, who said that you had no secrets about the current you."

"You are not going to let this go, are you?"

"Something you of all people think is creepy? No, I have to hear this."

X'ero sighed while she played with the long side of her hair.

"I think Larxene was trying to unsettle Saïx – just for the heck of it. Unfortunately she decided that my body was the right subject to... annoy him with."

"Your body?" Zexion could pretty much figure out what kind of conversation it had been, giving the fact that Larxene had been involved and X'ero seemed reluctant to tell him. What worried Zexion was that X'ero had caught on to subject of the conversation, meaning that it had to be some pretty obvious hint if X'ero had understood the deeper meaning. A horrifying thought crossed his mind. Without thinking he grabbed X'ero shoulders.

"Please tell me that you weren't hurt or touched in an inappropriate way."

"No, of course not! I just don't like other people treating my body as if it is an object."

Zexion relaxed a little.

"Of course it's not an object. You have a very nice body... I mean. I just don't want other people to touch it... You to be harmed. I don't want you to be harmed."

Now X'ero was looking worriedly at him and Zexion understood her. It was not often that he fumbled his words and spoke without thinking.

"You are acting strange again." X'ero said. "I'm beginning to get worried. Are you sick? Has that Vexen tried some kind of mind affecting experiment on you?"

Zexion couldn't help but smiling.

"It's not Vexen affecting my mind, X'ero."

"Huh?"

His hands were still placed on X'ero's shoulders he was in a position where it would be easy to lean in and... His eyes automatically went downwards towards X'ero's lips. It would be very easy and he was... curious, but as a tactician he disliked the idea of taking an action while being unable to predict the outcome, and this was a subject where he didn't know what X'ero really thought.

"Zexion... You are not acting less strange right now."

"Sorry," He drew back and took his book. "I do not mean to act strange." He stated as he began reading. "Perhaps we could return to talking about Axel."

"Is there anymore to say?"

"If you ever run into him again, could you ensure that he escapes one more time?"

X'ero placed the long side of her hair behind her ear and turned to look at Zexion with both of her eyes.

"No," she said very calmly. "If I see that renegade again, I have to kill him."

"Why? You have no connection with Axel."

"That is correct. But when someone expresses a wish to figure out how to 'break me down' – I'm not going to let that person live."

Zexion closed his book for the second time that evening. For some kind of reason the notion that someone (Or another Nobody) was aiming at X'ero personally didn't sit well with Zexion.

"X'ero, I will not allow anyone to harm you." He simply said.

* * *

><p>Axel was actually a bigger problem than both X'ero and Zexion were imagining. As soon as he had left Wonderland a black feather had appeared in the corridor, guiding Axel to some remote place in a desolate world.<p>

"You should know that I'm a professional in walking headlong into traps and still escape unharmed." He claimed as he saw no one and began to become a little bit nervous.

"I am sorry for the inconvenience, but I have many enemies and would rather not lead them to me." A circle of two chains appeared, two feathers arms and two legs quickly connected themselves to the chains and finally a helmet made of black feathers materialized itself above the construction.

"Aren't you looking pretty," commented Axel as he summoned his chakrams, just to be safe.

"Yes my charms are failing me recently. However, I doubt my personality were the reason you wished to see me."

"Not to sound rude, but... how do you know?"

"I'm keeping a close eye on my... do you call it 'other'?"

"Little miss Greenhair?" Axel asked.

"Yes, I'm under the impression you wished to know more about her."

"And why should you tell?"

A strange and disturbing sound filled the air. Axel realized that the heartless, if that were what that thing was, was laughing.

"Why indeed... Perhaps I was hoping we could make a deal. After all we seem to have a common enemy."

"A deal? I'm listening. But it better be good."

"It will be real good." The heartless laughed. "...and real deadly."

* * *

><p>Ns: Larxene can be... not very nice.<p>

Saïx (disbelieving): Not very nice. That was humiliating! Now that I think about it, I don't think Xemnas has told us not to harm you. (Summons claymore)

Ns (Gasp): I think, I have to go now. As for the next patch of chapter. I no longer am free on monday. I am a little unsure if it is thuesday or wednesday that is my free day, but depending on which it is I will be uploading on that day next week.


	13. Chapter 13: Spell Casting

Ns: First time I wrote this chapter I wasn't satisfied with it. I still aren't, but I couldn't figure out what I disliked about it:_(

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters relating to it.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13: Spell Casting <strong>

Being the day to day overseer of the castle often meant a lot less free time than the rest of the members and therefore Saïx wasn't grateful that someone chose to hammer on the entrance to his quarters in the middle of the night, efficiently waking him up.

"X'ero?" he said surprised as he teleported outside to find her impatiently waiting for him. "Are you aware of the time?" A part of his brain concluded that this had to be a dream, because there was no logical reason for X'ero to wake him.

"It's the middle of the sleeping hours... I think. It's always dark here." X'ero actually answering him shattered all hopes of this being some kind of absurd dream.

"You are aware that we usually sleep during the sleeping hours?"

X'ero crossed her arms.

"Obviously I'm not," she said.

"Obviously... " Saïx suppressed a yawn. "If you are insomniac, can't you go and bother to Zexion instead?"

"No, he is sleeping."

And Saïx was not?

"Besides..." X'ero continued. "I need to talk to you, but you just disappeared yesterday."

That was not entirely true. It was just... Saïx had assumed that X'ero needed a whole day to find the last two feathers, and whenever he had seen her lurking around the castle at different times during the day, he had suddenly remembered important duties in other parts of the castle. He hadn't been avoiding her after the 'Larxene-incident'; he just did not want to talk about it, and his past experience with the so called 'weaker' sex, had taught him that girls tended to remember that kind of insults and blame it on the guy - even if it was all Larxene's fault.

"Listen, X'ero, it never happen."

"But it _did_ happen."

"I don't want to talk about."

"I want to talk about it and you owe it to me!"

"I owe you nothing."

X'ero took one step closer to him, her smile appearing.

"Listen," she said, emphasizing her words by jabbing him on his chest with her pointer finger, word for word. "I. Don't. Want. People. To. Poke. Around. In. My. Past."

"Your past?" Saix asked. Clearly they weren't talking about the same thing. "Are you referring to Axel?"

"Yes, I wasn't completely unconscious. I heard you conversation – some of it, anyway."

"I see... I assume you want to know why he is targeting you."

"Yes."

Saïx ran his hand through his long hair. He really didn't want to explain it, but he guessed X'ero did have a right to know. He reached out and opened a portal reluctantly.

"We should not talk about it here. Go through, I will follow in a few minutes."

The sun was slowly beginning to rise when Saïx arrived at the clock tower in Twilight Town. X'ero was standing at edge of the clock tower, staring at the sunrise.

"You know, I don't think I have seen a sun since I lived in Traverse Town. Everywhere we goes it's either clouded or night."

"I need a moon to go berserk." Saïx explained, even though he knew that X'ero was aware of that fact. "Besides a sun is a star, like any other – it's just closer."

"You know a lot about this kind of stuff?"

Saïx looked at the sunrise too.

"I was into both astronomy and astrology. They were my...hobbies."

"Hobbies? You had hobbies?" X'ero sounded disbelieving.

"Yes, I was a whole person once. Of course there were things important to me back then."

"I... I see." If Saïx didn't knew better, he would say that X'ero looked discouraged by his words.

"But astrology?" Apparently she wasn't willingly to let it go. "Isn't that a bit superstitious?"

"I am the Lunar Diviner. Did you think that Xemnas made our titles on a whim?"

"Eh..." The visible part of X'ero face, clearly told him that, yes, she had thought Xemnas just made the titles up on a whim.

"Didn't your Somebody have something she was interested in."

There was a long suspicious pause.

"...So why are we here?" Her attempt to change the subject was so obvious that it was almost painful.

"It was here it started." Saïx looked at view. "You see. I assigned Axel to Roxas' first mission..."

"Roxas?"

"Key of Destiny. Anyway, after Roxas' first mission they began that worthless habit of meeting here after the mission for ice cream, and somehow Axel became attached to Roxas – so attached that he ultimately betrayed the Organization to get his friend back."

"Where does wanting to 'break me' get into the picture?"

"In a way they were three, who met here."

"'In a way'?"

"Yes, the last were not even a real Nobody – a thing, something we had created to have an extra keyblade, and it broke down."

"Let me guess: You actually used that phrase."

"So what if I did? It was not even a real 'she'... Just a vessel filled with memories there wasn't its own. We shouldn't even be able to remember it, but our resurrection brought back all memories, also previously erased ones. Axel may not have taken kindly to suddenly remember the Organization's treatment of that thing."

X'ero crossed her arms again.

"_Your_ treatment – in other words."

"No - the Organization. Axel was as much a part of it as the rest of us."

"To me it still sounds like I'm being targeted, simply because you are a jerk."

X'ero smile was back on. In that moment Saïx was happy that X'ero lacked the physical strength to push him of the tower, she sure looked like she wanted to.

"It's only part of the reason. You must understand that despite of his attitude, Axel is no fool. He can figure that you are a bit of the wild card."

"Wild card?"

"Your origins are unknown. Frankly, we only have Zexion words that you are trustworthy and he figured out that that you were connected to the feathers."

"..." X'ero briefly looked away.

"I don't care about your origins, and as long as you're an ordinary Nobody, you can't possible betray the Organization in way, we can't handle." Saïx looked at X'ero. She still wasn't saying anything.

"You are an ordinary Nobody, right? Axel can't find a way to 'break you down'."

Finally there was a reaction.

"Of course. I might have been a little more... touched by the darkness in the process of losing my heart compared to the rest of you, but darkness is my affinity, so..."

"Good."

Saïx handed a folded cloth to X'ero, she accepted it a bit confused.

"I would have given it to you when we came back from the last mission, but I got a bit... distracted and forgot about it."

X'ero unfolded the cloth.

"That's..."

"I really didn't know what you wanted, so I just took that which was relatively unburned."

"But those are the vegetation samples that I wanted from Wonderland."

"Are they any good?"

"Yes. The magic still lingers in them. Perhaps I can figure out how that kind of magic works." Her face shone up with the same kind of enthusiasm Saïx had witnessed in Wonderland. "I will study it immediately. This kind of magic is just so different from mine. It's wonderful."

She opened a portal back to The World That Never Was. Before entering it she turned to Saïx, her visible eye glowing with it usual orange light.

"Thank you," she said. "But why did you do it?"

Saïx shrugged.

"You asked for it."

That explanation was apparently good enough, because X'ero disappeared through the portal. Saïx followed into the Proof of Existence. He decided against going to sleep, since it was already around the time where he would wake up anyway, instead he would attend to some of his duties. An ominous chuckle stopped him before he could leave.

"Who's there?"

"Aren't you just a little suspicious?" Marluxia appeared from a dark corner. "Or am I also forbidden to be an early riser?"

"What are you doing here?"

Marluxia shook his head in resigned gesture.

"I'm an early riser, didn't I just say that. It's not like I spend every minute preparing to overthrow Xemnas." He sighed overly dramatic. "Besides it's pretty hard to plan a coup d'état, when I'm forbidden to talk to my only accomplice. A whole organization is a bit much for one person. But you should already know that."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing – I just noticed that up till now, you were the only one who was not attached to anyone."

"I do not need any false attachments."

"Really? But it must be lonely. The six original have such a strong connection. No matter what we do, us neophytes will never earn that trust. Luxord and Demyx are so relatively pleasant persons that they can get along with others well, and I may be forbidden to talk to her, but at least I know that Larxene is my ally."

Saïx turned away; this was a waste of his time.

"I see no need to repeat myself." He said.

"And you see no need to comment on the fact that I deliberately left our newest member out. She's such an eerie girl... don't you think?"

Saïx stopped walking away.

"X'ero does her job, unlike some others."

Marluxia chuckled.

"That I do not doubt, and I believe that I was wrong in what I said earlier."

"What?"

Marluxia opened the entrance to his quarters.

"I saw you this morning. You have obviously attached you self to the girl."

Marluxia was gone, before Saïx could hit him with his claymore, leaving him with nothing to do other than shaking a fist at Marluxia's tombstone. Without a moon it was easy for Saïx to reel his anger in.

It was not true. He was not attached to X'ero. That would be incredible stupid, considering her attachment to Zexion. He shouldn't even think about such a ridicules lie.

* * *

><p>Zexion and Vexen were working untiringly on improving the blueprints. After all they didn't want the device to blow up on them before the broken Kingdom Hearts were removed. Admittedly they both had research they rather would be studying (In Zexion's case the feather they had tricked from X'ero) but Organization work came before anything else.<p>

"This is unending work when the main blueprint still is missing." Vexen complained. "I have some experiments I would much rather do."

Zexion nodded, but before he could answer he smelled X'ero coming closer to the laboratory. Few seconds later he heard a hesitatingly knock on the door and X'ero peeked inside.

"Excuse me, but do you guys have some dragon blood in here?"

Zexion and Vexen looked at each other baffled.

"No, we ran out just yesterday."

"Then, some other kind of blood or red liquid?"

"Perhaps, you can get some paint at the moogle's." Vexen suggested.

"Paint isn't the best, but all right..." X'ero withdrew again sounding disappointed.

Zexion looked at Vexen.

"Would you mind..."

"You can go. I'm curious as well."

"Thank you."

"Zexion..." Vexen said as Zexion reached the door. "From a scientific view I can see why she's interesting. There some experiments I would die to try on her. But I don't think you that your interest is solely scientific."

"Perhaps not entirely."

"Then I must warn you. Girls are unpredictable creatures. Girls without hearts even more so and girls who wield darkness are downright dangerous."

"What exactly are you warning me against?" Zexion asked, not liking where this was going

"Take care that it is only the her feminine charm that affects you and not her darkness."

"I have already lost my heart to the darkness. What more could I possible lose?"

"Your mind, your sanity. Those things are a devastating thing for a scientist to lose, a lot more than a heart."

"Don't worry; I can take care of myself."

Zexion found X'ero again in her quarters, more precisely in her training room. The room, however, didn't look like a part of the castle anymore. Paper full of strange symbols was scattered all around the floor, X'ero had drawn five pentagrams on the floor with crayon and was now painting them over with the red paint. Zexion stepped carefully into the mess.

"Careful," he heard X'ero's voice. "Don't step on the plants."

It was first now he noticed that, which looked like chopped up vegetation carefully placed in the middle of each pentagram.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Creating a new spell." X'ero looked up; it was almost as if she was glowing. Zexion had never seen her this way. So... alive. "Do you want to help?"

"Sure." He had barely breathed his agreement out before a paint bottle was thrown to him.

"Just paint over the drawings. Be sure to follow the lines."

Zexion nodded.

It took them around twenty minutes to complete the drawings. As they finished X'ero beckoned Zexion to come at stand with her in the middle.

"Now, you are about to watch something amazing," she said as she folded her hands. Her gloves appeared and X'ero began to chant what sounded like a complicated spell. Five columns of red rose from the drawings. X'ero separated her hands and spread her arms, almost hitting Zexion in the process. Zexion covered his head as the columns exploded, but nothing dangerous happened to him, so he carefully lowered his arms again. The air was filled with red liquid, flowing freely through the air. It was as if they were standing in an aquarium and a kid had decided to empty his entire red water color into the confined space. He could smell the magic – and the paint too. The red color were not just moving around aimlessly in the air around them, there was a certain pattern to the movement, but Zexion did not knew what it meant. He glanced at X'ero. She was deeply concentrated watching the movement. It did not look as if she was aware of him any longer.

Zexion's natural curiosity got the best of him and he reached out to touch the red. Nothing happened, but when he drew he hand back, he noticed that it had gotten red paint on it.

"That why I asked for blood," X'ero absent minded commented. "Strangely enough it always dissolves when you use it in magic rituals."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Yes."

"What is this?"

"Do you know that there exist 1683 different kinds of magic?"

"Really? And you have studied them all?"

"Of course not. If you are a good magician you learn around two or three kind of magic. It is rare to have affinity for more than that." X'ero shook her head. "You must understand that every kind of magic follows it's own rules, and these rules differ from world to world." She looked at Zexion. "If you ever meet a magician, who claims to be a 'Master of the elements' or the 'Only true wielder of Destruction' or something like that, you can be pretty sure that they are a fraud. You'll never master it completely."

"So this is..." Zexion pointed to the red in the air.

"It's a magic I don't have an affinity for. Its pattern is unknown to me."

"So, you can't learn it."

"Oh, I can learn a spell or two from it, but I will never be able to wield it like the inhabitants of the world it came from. "

X'ero reached out and closed her hand around some of the red paint flowing in the air. To Zexion's surprise it wiggled in her grip, like a struggling animal caught in a deadly trap. She pulled her hand back, part of the red coloured liquid following, and turned to Zexion with her 'disaster'-smile on.

"This is why it I have to colour it," she said. "Or I can't see its pattern and where to reach in and steal the magic."

The coloured air she had grabbed stopped its struggling and was absorbed into her gloves.

"Steal?"

"I just said that I could not learn it by studying."

Zexion looked at the pattern flowing in the air; a hole was now visible in the pattern where X'ero had grabbed in.

"So what does it do?"

"That's a good question. It's a kind of creative magi. Perhaps I should just try it." X'ero raised her arm. Zexion did not have X'ero's knowledge of magic, but he could recognize danger when he saw it. He grabbed X'ero around the wrist.

"Wait..." he began, but it was too late.

"Aeroga!"

The room became a blur as they were hit by an aeroga-spell from five different sides. Both were thrown of their feet and into the air. In the few seconds it took before they hit the floor Zexion realized that he still held on to X'ero wrist, but before he could release her they impacted with the floor, in Zexion's case extra painful because X'ero somehow managed to land on top of him.

"Always deactivate the pentagrams," X'ero's voice groaned so close by his right ear that he could feel her breath. "Why do I always forget that?"

Somehow Zexion's brain was not registering her words, it was preoccupied with their position and how close they were. The more mischievous part of him decided that he rather like the situation, if not how they had ended up in it.

X'ero attempted to stand up, but realized that Zexion still had her wrist in his grip and his other arms somehow had placed itself around her waist, firmly keeping her down.

"You can let go of me now," she said. "I'm not doing anymore crazy spell casting."

Zexion let go of her wrist, but kept his arms around her waist.

"You are not getting up until you tell me what happened."

"I think I figured out what the new spell does." X'ero pushed herself up to rest on her elbows.

"Repeat the last spell casted in the area?" Zexion logically concluded from the events.

"I can properly lock it on to persons as well. Unfortunately it was activated in all five pentagrams, so we kind of got hit. Are you hurt?"

"I have a high magic resistance."

"So do I."

Zexion's brain was working fast in order to figure out a question that could keep them in this position without X'ero getting suspicious of his intentions. He wanted to have her so close while she was in a good mood.

"You have paint in your hair." He stated.

"So do you." She sighed. "Why doesn't this Organization stock dragon blood? It's a serious failing."

Zexion chuckled.

"I could always bring your complain to Xemnas. I would love to see his reaction to such a request."

"I think he will begin to doubt your mental health." X'ero said, clearly imagining it. "Or worse: Actually order someone to fetch it."

With nothing more to say, silence fell over them. Zexion realized that he had to let X'ero go or figure out a really good explanation. However before he could do either Larxene entered the room, rather loudly, leaving Zexion to wonder if X'ero was unaware of the fact that she could prevent other Nobodies from entering her private area. He quickly let go of X'ero and they got up.

"Riiight," Larxene said. "I would love to comment on that situation, unfortunately I don't have time."

Inwardly Zexion thanked Kingdom Hearts a thousand times.

Larxene turned to X'ero.

"You have to come to the Grey Room. Saïx is killing Demyx - it's so funny."

* * *

><p>It was indeed a scene that met their eyes as they entered the Grey Room. Demyx was literally hiding behind Luxord, while he kept blabbering about how it not was his fault, because he were not the right man for the job and it was too much of a work anyway. Saïx was trying to glare Demyx down and Luxord looked like he really wanted to say something, but couldn't because he was too much of a gentleman to interrupt Demyx. The rest of the Nobodies, save Xemnas, were enjoying the show.<p>

"Did they fail their mission?" Zexion asked Larxene.

"I think so," Larxene said. "The first thing Demyx said when they came back was: 'It's not my fault.' Then Saïx asked, in this really evil tone what Demyx had done this time and Demyx just started blabbering."

"Poor Luxord," X'ero said. While she secretly thought that it was good that the broken Kingdom Hearts couldn't turn Saïx berserk.

Xemnas appeared, properly sensing the commotion.

"What's going on?" His question was directed at Saïx.

"It's not my fault," It was, however, Demyx who answered. "We... we did everything you said, even though it was a lot of work. We even defeated that... thingy. It's not my fault it isn't right."

"Have they failed to bring back their blue-print?" Once more Xemnas directed his question at saïx ignoring Demyx.

"I think so. I'm not sure. IX had yet to be coherent in his explanation."

"Ladies and gentlemen," Luxord finally got his voice through Demyx word stream. "If I may: It is as Demyx says. It is indeed not our fault: We are the victims of foul play." Luxord handed a piece of paper to Xemnas. "It was not a blue-print attached to the feather."

Before Xemnas had time to take the paper from Luxord and examine it, X'ero snatched it. Zexions quick eyes caught the word "Organism", but X'ero turned it into and angle, from where she was the only one who could read it. Her face paled visible. Then she proceeded to tear the paper into small pieces and burnt them to ashes in a blue fire.

"Now would be a good time for an explanation, XV," Xemnas said, sounding in shock over X'ero disrespectful behaviour.

"It is indeed foul play." X'ero said. "And my heartless have a bad sense of humour I wouldn't want to expose the rest of the Organization to."

"Of course it is the main print that is missing," Xigbar said. "and from Princess' reaction I take it that she can't track it."

"No," X'ero said. "There were only ten feathers."

Silence.

"This is your heartless, X'ero." Xemnas finally said. "What would you do in its situation?"

"I?" X'ero words came with a strange sound, that almost sounded like a mockingly laughter. "I would destroy it of course. Why give my enemies a chance to get what they want?"

"So it's destroyed. This has all been for naught?" Xemnas did not sound happy.

"Not necessarily." X'ero looked troubled. "I'm... I don't have emotions so I don't act that way, but my Somebody... loved to toy with people. She would never just destroy it. Not if there was a possibility to see us despair even more. She would place it somewhere we couldn't reach or give it to someone we couldn't defeat."

"Sora," Xemnas said.

"As a matter of fact I have some interesting news in that area." Xigbar continued Xemnas' train of thoughts. "Just recently Sora's gummiship was put on fire and he had to fly it back to Disney Castle for repairs. Strange coincidence considering that we can't arrive in that world thanks to the Cornerstone of Light."

"Fire. Axel." Was Lexaeus' only words.

"Isn't he allied with Sora?" Zexion said, but then continued to answer his own question. "But since the gummiship could fly back it obviously did not put Sora in danger. We cannot rule out that Axel is willing to work with any of our enemies. The question is how do we ask Sora if he has the blue print?"

"Uhm... Sora is the good guy, right?" Every eye turned to Demyx, who surprisingly decided to give his opinion. "Can't we just ask him for the blue-print? It not right to steal, so I'm sure he would give it back."

"Sora is not that stupid," Saïx dryly commented. "But you're welcome to ask him."

"Not so fast," Xigbar laughed. "I like the idea. Sora doesn't remember the Oblivion team. Put one person in something other than the cloak and Sora will never find out."

"It's no good," Zexion said. "Naminé and Riku have had plenty of time to describe each member of the Organization to Sora. It has to be someone neither Naminé nor Riku can identify as an Organization member."

"Someone," Xemnas said, his orange eyes resting on X'ero. "Someone, who has joined recently."

* * *

><p>Ns: Well next chapter is X'ero's first meeting with Sora. I hope it ends well<p>

X'ero (Crossing her arms): I don't want to.


	14. Chapter 14: Light and Dark

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or the characters relate to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 14: Light and Dark<strong>

"Let us go," one of the small chipmunk- mechanics said, hammering against the bar in the cage. Lexaeus simply swung the cage hard, causing the small animals to tumble against the side violently.

"It was so nice of Sora to forget his little friends here," Zexion said. "...and even more convenient that he left his original gummiship for us to use."

"We will never help you to fly it!" one of the animals said.

"I can." Lexaeus deemed two words enough.

Leaning against the wall Saïx was silently watching the argument. Zexion rather wished that he didn't have to go on a mission with the Lunar Diviner, but it could not be helped. Saïx was on the same team as X'ero and Xemnas' new rule were would not be nullified – not even for this.

Thinking of X'ero: She was taking and unusual time of preparing, Zexion couldn't help but wonder if she had chosen to flee from them. She sure hadn't looked overjoyed with the prospect of meeting the keyblade master. To shame Zexion's thoughts they soon heard footsteps on the stairs and X'ero came into the gummiship dock dressed in the grey jacket and blue jeans she had preferred to wear when they lived in Traverse Town. But that was not the only change. X'ero had removed the long side of her hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear and keeping it in place with hair slides formed like black feathers. On top of that she was hiding her eerie orange eyes behind a pair of sunglasses.

She temporally removed said sunglasses and directed her orange stare at Saïx.

"Do I look not creepy now?" she asked with a hostile tone.

Saïx shrugged.

"I merely pointed out that you normally look... a bit too creepy. Not even Sora would trust you if you look and act as usual. Also: you should properly not introduce yourself as X'ero. Sora might have grown a brain and figure out that the 'X' in your name means that you are a Nobody."

"Simply put: Be anything but yourself." X'ero asked angrily.

"Yes!" Both Zexion and Saïx answered in union.

X'ero turned to Zexion.

"Why do I have to go? Can't you just use your illusion powers to change everyone's look?"

"As the keyblade wielder the heart of Sora might just have the power to see through illusions." Zexion explained. "I don't want to take the risk. I can make the rest of us invisible and Sora will not know there are any illusions to see through, but if we are all invisible it's impossible to talk Sora into giving us the blue-print. You are the only one it's impossible for Sora to know beforehand." X'ero still didn't look convinced. "I will be beside you, invisible, to guide you through. " Zexion tried to calm her.

Behind them Lexaeus had started the gummiship:

"One hour," he said. "Then I fly back."

* * *

><p>Sora was having an audience with Queen Minnie or rather they were discussing King Mickey's whereabouts while Sora waited for his gummiship to be repaired. Donald and Goofy were catching up with old friends. One of the cleaning brooms came swooping in with a note which it handed to the Queen.<p>

"It's a distress signal," she said. "From your old gummiship. It asks for permission to land."

"Cool," Sora said. "Hurry up and let it in."

"I will," Minnie said. "But be aware it could be a trap."

Few seconds later Sora waited in the hangar as the gummiship land and a green haired girl stepped out carrying the two small mechanics with her.

"They crash landed in my world," the stranger said. "They managed to say something about this world before passing out, so the people of my world agreed that it would be best to have someone fly them here."

Sora looked at his small friends, they seemed to be sleeping rather than passed out, but just to be safe he decided to take them to the Queen. He signalled the girl to follow him. Just as they began walking Sora had the feeling that something unseen passed quick by him, but he could not see anything.

"I'm Sora," he introduced himself as they walked - Always eager to make new friends. "It's nice to meet you..."

"Nihil."

"It's nice to meet you, Nihil." Sora smiled at his new acquaintance. "We have been worried about them. It's good of you to bring them back."

"You're... welcome?" Somehow the girl managed to make it sound more like a question than a statement.

"Which world are you from?" Sora asked as they arrived in the Queens' chambers. "If you would like it, we could take you back."

Nihil didn't answer at first. Her head was slightly tilted as if she listened to something.

"A magic world." She slowly said and adjusted the position of her sunglasses. "I'm the only one there that can fly a gummiship, so..."

"You are a pilot?"

Once again the girl paused before answering.

"No, a mechanic - apparently. I'm good with all sorts of mechanic devices."

"Sora," Minnie said. "They seemed to be poisoned. I'll go get some medicine."

Sora nodded and Nihil shifted nervously. As soon as the Quenn was out the green haired girl spoke.

"...Is there something you like? I really like...eh...blue-prints. Especially blue-prints of weapons..."

"Really," Sora said excited. "Because we got a weird one lately and we don't know what to make of it."

"Can I see it?"

"Sure, just a second."

Sora searched his belongings and handed Nihil the weird blue-print, she quickly scanned her eyes over it. (Or at least Sora assumed so. He couldn't quite see her eyes.)

"Is this it?" she asked the thin air. Then she nodded as if she had received an answer. "I need some time to examine this blue-print, could I borrow it?"

"I don't know." Sora crossed his arms. "The weird voice said to keep it away from the Organization. What if you get attacked?"

"Believe me. I'm more than capable of defending myself."

Sora was still not sure it was a good idea, before he could decide the Queen returned with the medicine which she quickly gave to the chipmunks. Sora ran to their bedside.

"Are you guys all right?" He asked.

"Sora," one of the mechanics said, still feeling drowsy. "The green haired, she's with the Organization."

"Whaaaat?" Sora turned around just in time to see the door slam: The girl was gone along with the blue-print.

"Forget it," Sora said summoning his keyblade. "You are not getting away."

Sora and Minnie followed the girl into the hallway.

"Stop," Sora shouted. "Hand that blue-print back. I won't let the Organization get away with anything."

The girl froze. She turned around to face Sora again and slowly removed the sun glasses to reveal two sinister orange eyes, which were judging him harshly.

"You're nothing, but a kid who has wielded the keyblade for far too long. You won't even be able to touch me."

"We'll see about that."

Sora charged, but to his surprise his keyblade struck something of metal before it connected with the girl and he flew backwards. Sora landed on his feet and charged again, this time he didn't even get close something kicked him hard in the stomach sending him flying once more into the wall.

"Ouch." Sora looked at his enemy: She had not done anything to attack him. Instead she was backing slowly away towards the door, her eyes trained on him and her body tense, but seemingly not doing anything aggressive. The Queen helped Sora back on his feet.

"I think they are more than one."

"But I can only see one."

Minnie pointed to Sora chest.

"See with your heart and not with your eyes." She said and extended her hand to Sora. He took it and closed he his eyes, trying to follow the Queen's words.

The combined power of Sora and the Queen of Disney Castlee filled the hallway with a blinding light. Sora heard a gasp and something dropped to the floor.

When the light disappeared Sora saw the girl supporting an Organization member he hadn't seen before, a thick book had fallen to the floor. Saïx was there too, and Sora was willing to bet his keyblade that it was Saïx that had kicked him.

"Zexion are you all right?" Nihil (or whatever her name was) asked the unknown member.

"Yes, but is not very healthy when someone break through one of my illusions."

The Nobody named Zexion took the book from the floor:

"I guess we are resorting to plan B."

Saïx stepped forward.

"X'ero..." he said to the girl.

She nodded.

"Aeroga!"

The spell hid the wall close to the ceiling simultaneously with one of Saïx most powerful swings.

"Back!" Sora shouted and literally threw the Queen back into the chamber as a huge part of the wall and ceiling crumbled to the floor. Sora coughed and tried to look through the dust. The Nobodies were getting away.

* * *

><p>Zexion and X'ero had escaped to the garden. X'ero coughed and waved her hand in front of her face to clear some of the air from dust.<p>

"What a brilliant plan." She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Plan B is seldom as good as Plan A. That's why it's your second option." Zexion commented while dusting of Lexicon. "He was not supposed to realize that there were more of us."

"I know, I know. Are you unharmed?"

"Yes, we should get back to Lexaeus. We have the blue-print, after all."

"Saïx is missing." X'ero said looking around.

"I can smell him, so he's unharmed. He is surely heading for the gummiship himself."

"All right," X'ero said. "It's not like it's my problem, anyway."

Neither Zexion nor X'ero was especially fit so they walked through the garden instead of running. Perhaps that was why they were interrupted by a talking duck and what seemed to be a large... something, before they could reach the gummiships.

"Donald and Goofy," Zexion said. "Sora's loyal friends."

"What have you done to Sora?" Donald asked angrily.

"Nothing, we need him to create Kingdom Hearts." Zexion explained. "There is no need for this to resort to violence…" In his mind he was already preparing several illusions.

"Get out of our way." X'ero wasn't in the mood to a long talk. It wouldn't take long before Sora fought his way through the rubbish in the hallway.

Donald and Goofy prepared their weapons. It looked like they wouldn't get by without fight. X'ero glanced at Zexion. It was not because she thought that Zexion couldn't hold his own in battle, she had seen him fight heartless in Traverse Town, but Zexion were a tactician not a warrior, he was meant to plan the battles, not to fight them, besides the keyblade-kid had broken through Zexion's illusion, X'ero knew that Zexion was drained no matter what he said.

"...Go on ahead," she said and threw the blue-print to him. "I will take care of these two."

"What? I'm not leaving you behind. Lexaeus won't wait."

"I'm sure you can talk Lexaues into waiting for ten more minutes. It won't take longer getting past these two – I promise."

Zexion look at her intently.

"You better keep that promise."

"I will."

"All right," X'ero said, turning to Sora's two followers. "You are fighting me. Blizzaga!" She aimed a spell at the large one with the shield.

"Goofy!" The duck shouted and then looked angrily at X'ero. "Firaga."

"Reflect!"

The fire spell was cancelled as the two spells met and X'ero used the opportunity to ensure that Zexion had gotten away. He was nowhere to be seen. Now all she had to do was figure out how to defeat those two, with the Cornerstone of Light preventing her from summon her gloves.

"Sora!" Goofy suddenly shouted. If he hadn't said anything X'ero wouldn't have been sensed the attack, as it were she saw Sora coming just in time and barely dodged his keyblade.

"How did you get through the hallway so fast?" she asked. "We destroyed it completely."

"Her Majesty knew another way." Sora raised his keyblade once more. "I won't let you threaten my friends. Now hand the blue-print back."

X'ero narrowed her eyes. A memory of her other fighting the keyblade knights in the past flashed through her mind. Her past self had lost that fight – and lost it big. Sora was the keyblade _master _and X'ero was weaker than usual in this world. This mission had just evolved from crazy to suicide, and she had no wish to fade. She couldn't possible reach Zexion and Lexaeus in time.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled and then she folded her hands together, hoping that her new repeat-spell could work with persons and not just areas. "Zexion-repeat." X'ero vanished in a rush of pages.

"She's gone." Goofy said.

"Block the exit to the gummiship," Sora explained. "Queen Minnie said that they need a gummiship to leave."

With Sora, Donald and Goofy blocking her way out she fled in the opposite direction, before her repeat of Zexion's illusion wore off. She would have to find another way out.

* * *

><p>"Time's up" Lexaeus concluded. "We are leaving."<p>

"No, wait." Zexion grabbed Lexaues coat. "I can still smell X'ero. We can't just leave her."

"Then get off."

"I... I can't do that. I wouldn't be able to leave."

"..." Lexeaus simply started the gummiship.

Few minutes later they were in the empty space between the worlds. Zexion smashed a fist against the wall, the same way his illusion had done when Riku had defeated it. Somehow he thought of himself as just as defeated as his illusion. Why had he not stayed and figured out a tactic so they both could escape? Why had he trusted her word? What the hell was she thinking?

"You said you would be back in time," he whispered as Disney Castle and X'ero's smell disappeared more and more. "You promised."

* * *

><p>Time was up, which meant that he was in trouble. Saïx had taken a harder hit than the other two when the ceiling in the hallway came down and thus had been later to arrive in the garden. When he <em>had <em>arrived, he saw Sora and Sora's two 'lackeys' blocking the exit to the only way out to the gummiships. Saïx knew Sora (or rather Roxas) well enough to know that the only way to defeat him was to kill him, which was far too early. They still needed Sora- So Saïx retreated while he waited for Sora to get out of his way, but Sora didn't move and now time was up. He had to find another way of this stupid, useless world.

The problem was the Cornerstone. It prevented any form of darkness from forming so if it was destroyed he could teleport out. With that in mind Saïx headed to the throne room and soon arrived in the secret room.

"X'ero," he said surprised when he arrived. "Why are you here?"

"The same reason as you, I suspect. We can't get away with this stupid light ball blocking all darkness out."

X'ero had removed the hair slides and had thus reverted back into her normal eerie self. Complete with eerie smile and all.

"Have you found a way to destroy it?"

"I tried throwing one of my hair slides at the Cornerstone- just to see what happen. But the slide got pulverized, so brute force is out of the question."

"Pity. How about you magic?"

"Without my gloves my new spell drained me from energy. I only have enough for one more spell so it has to be right."

"I'm not sure what could destroy it." Saïx admitted.

"Me neither..."

"Is there no other way out? Some kind of magic portal?"

"A very powerful spell was casted in this area. Its magic still lingers, I could repeat it, but I have no idea what it does."

"Cast it: We have nothing to lose."

X'ero sighed, but folded her hands nonetheless.

"Repeat."

A weird look door appeared out of nowhere. Saïx tried to push the handle down. It was unlocked.

"All right, let's go."

"Wait! Keep you hood up, don't talk to _anyone_ and _don't_ try to change anything. Things are the way they was, they can't be changed." X'ero seemed unusual nervous.

"You sound like we are going straight to hell."

"Not far off, considering it was me who summoned the door."

Saïx looked at his teammate, but opened the door. It was after all their best bet. Besides they could just teleport out when they arrived.

* * *

><p>Saïx blacked out as they went through and he was alone when he woke up. He was in castle where all was black, the wall was black, the furniture was black, even the air seemed darker than normal. Deciding that he did not like this place Saïx tried to summon a portal. He couldn't. Apparently they weren't better off in this world than the world they had left.<p>

Something crept by him. Saïx summoned his claymore. It was a shadow, but something was wrong. It did not attack him, and somehow it seemed different, controlled by the unnatural silence that ruled in the hallways. Saïx decided that he had to find X'ero, she obviously had expected this world.

As he walked in the hallways he passed small insignificant looking door. He would have passed by it, if he hadn't noticed the word on the door:

_Nihil_

It was too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence. With no other clue to go on he pressed through the door and entered into a room full of green. It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the colour then he realized that it was a room full of green feathered, sleeping birds. He was sure he could see a door in the far end of the room so he carefully stepped in. All the birds immediately woke up and began circling him.

"Unknown specimen, unknown specimen." They screamed. "Moon affinity, berserker, touched by darkness. Intruder! Intruder!"

Saïx flung his arm into the bird flock, but they were so many that they were impossible to scare away. The door in the far end creaked open and Saïx thought he saw a blue robed person peek out from behind it. Then the door closed again and the birds just kept flocking him. Deciding that this was a battle he could not win, Saïx turned around to flee the way he came, when he heard a clicking sound from the lock.

Slowly, almost disbelieving he tried to push the door handle down, but the door was locked. He was trapped.

"Intruder, intruder." The bird just kept screaming and then he heard a chuckle close behind him.

"This is _my_ territory," a female voice whispered. Saïx wasted no time: He swung around while hitting out with his claymore. He felled a few birds, but the owner of the voice was nowhere to be seen.

The chuckle was behind him again.

"This is my territory and I _dislike_ trespassers."

* * *

><p>Ns: What do you say in english... out of the frying pan and into the fire? They got the final blue-print, but I'm not really sure that we can call the mission a succes.<p>

Zexion: You better get X'ero back. I want to give her a piece of my mind.

Ns (sweat drop): That... might be a little hard...


	15. Chapter 15:Childhood

Ns: And the next chapter is up.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters in Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15: Childhood <strong>

Saïx did not like magic users, especially magic users with a fondness of teleporting. At least that was what Saïx assumed the owner of the voice did. Every time he turned around the voice would be behind him once more and the only thing he succeeded in slaying was some of the green birds.

"Why don't you show yourself?" he asked.

"... Why should I fight you head on?" The voice laughed. "This is much more fun."

In spite of all it words the owner of the voice had yet to attack him. It was like it was nothing more than an advanced game of cat and mouse to it. A game with no end. A memory of a troubled looking X'ero came into his mind.

" _I'm... I don't have emotions so I don't act that way, but my Somebody... loved to toy with people..." _

Wasn't it something in that direction X'ero had said recently? Of course there was no way that the Somebody of X'ero could still exist, but 'Nihil' was the none the less the name X'ero had presented herself with to Sora. And if this was just a game... Then he needed to get out of here in order to level the playing field a bit.

Saïx ran through the birds to reach the door on the far end. Just like he had expected it was also locked. However, Saïx was not about to let yet another locked door stand in his way so he broke his way through with the claymore. It was hard work, because the door was surprisingly sturdy and the green birds were clawing at him to keep him away, but he managed to break the door open and fled into what could only be described as a mages study room, filled with tomes and runes as it were.

"What a brute..." the voice tried to laugh but is sounded weaker. This time sound did not come from the behind him, but from a small blue robed figure, trying to hide in a dark corner in the room. "But I won't be intimidated." The figure said.

"You were never in that room, were you? It was the birds all the time..."

"The purpose is to scan and drive the intruder crazy. I do not like people in my territory, but I like to see them break down."

"I got that." Saïx said dryly while wondering if he should ask the next question. "You're Nihil, right?"

"I'm _the_ Lady Nihil." The person said and removed the hood to reveal a girl no more than ten years old, with long white hair kept in place by feather formed slides. Her eyes were brown, at least the right one was, her left eye was hidden beneath an eye patch.

Saïx was no longer in doubt; this girl was X'ero – or rather a younger version of her - with a heart, he guessed. This meant he had to be in the past. There were many things he would like to ask this child, but if she was anything like X'ero he had to be subtle about it or he would properly get a spell fired into his face.

"I'm Saïx, it's..."

"I have never heard of a Saïx before. It sounds like a stupid title."

Saïx blinked. His attempt to be polite had obviously failed.

"Title? It's my name."

"Name? What's that?" The girl tilted her head looking at him - her curiosity beating her instinct to try her magic on him.

"... It's a thing you mother and you father give you when you are born."

If she had looked puzzled before, Nihil looked downright confused now.

"A mother is a female life bringer, right? But what is a father?"

"I'm _not_ explaining the birds and the bees to you." Saïx said was definitely X'ero's other. No advanced magic beyond her age, but clearly lacking in other embarrassing areas. "So I take it that Lady Nihil is a title."

"Of course, are you aware of how much work it was to gain that title? Master Xehanort himself..."

"Wait, what? Your know Xehanort?"

"How can I _not _know him? He _is_ the master of this realm. Although..." The girl smiled a smile of the kind no one wished to witness. "...he's such an old man, I'm sure someone is going to overthrow him and claim the title for themselves very soon - very soon indeed."

"..." Saïx didn't know what to say. That kind of talk was not fitting to cross the lips of a child. Either something was wrong with this girl or someone was influencing her in a bad way.

"Is that not the very nature of the heart?" The girl suddenly asked. "Everything is about being the one in control: Our relations, our so called bonds with each other... Are they not just a way to ultimately dominate others? How pitiful, how pathetic we all are..."

Saïx was rarely shocked, but this little girl, spewing out a vocabulary she shouldn't even know at that age, shocked Saïx.

"Intruder, intruder..." The birds started screaming again, stopping the girl rant. She opened the door a little bit and peeked out. "You..." she said. "What are you doing here?"

"Hmm..." A taller blue robed person entered the room. "Trying to survive you little pets for starters."

"They are not pets."

"I know that. The problem is that some magic books have gone missing and I thought to myself: Who other than our _precious_ little Lady Nihil who would go and steal them?"

Before Nihil could answer, a strange thud was heard and the guy in the blue robe toppled over. Hit at the back of his head with a miniature statue.

"You rubbing off on me Saïx," X'ero said seemingly appearing out of nowhere. "To think that I have to resort to such a brutish method." She tossed the statue away. "But on the other hand I always wanted to give that guy a good whack on the head."

"Who... who are you?" Nihil asked her voice shaking. "Why didn't my birds warn me about you?"

"Because they couldn't tell the difference." X'ero said coldly. "You'll drink this..." She took her sleeping potion from one of her pockets.

"No... no..." Nihil backed away. "I don't like you. I don't want to play with you two anymore. You... you are _wrong_ in some way. Don't think I can't sense that, because I can."

X'ero just grabbed the smaller girl and forced the sleeping potion into her. Nihil fell asleep and without a word. She placed her hand on the head of the girl, and whispered something. A black aura enveloped the small body and then died out. X'ero groaned and rubbed her temple under the long side of her hair.

"I had her inner darkness overpower her for a second. All she remembers will be a rush of power." X'ero said.

"What about the other person?"

"...He's not a problem. He won't remember about this in the long run." She showed Saïx the stolen magic books. "The counter-spell should be in here."

"X'ero, this girl..."

"Let's see. I would have to recite that line and perhaps use that pentagram. There should be one in this room."

"X'ero, I'm trying to talk with you." Saïx said.

"Who thought this spell up? This is so embarrassing. Do I really have to say that?"

"X'ero..." She was still ignoring him. Instead she began reciting a mysterious spell. Saïx heard squeaking noise from the other room and as he opened the door about fifty of the green birds dropped dead to the floor.

"X'ero, what are you doing?"

"Sacrificial magic." She said as the door was summoned once more. "Don't worry about the birds. They were created to be sacrificed."

"X'ero..."

"Let's get home." She said as she opened the door. "There is nothing here worth our notice."

* * *

><p>The waves were falling against dark beach, the sound being the only noise heard in this abandoned place.<p>

"This place... I think Xemnas go here sometimes." Saïx commented.

X'ero said nothing. She was sitting on a huge stone, her hood up.

"X'ero, were we in the past?"

"It's a forbidden magic. I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine, it's not my business."

A moment of silence, then X'ero's hood turned towards Saïx.

"No one was supposed to ever meet her. The Lady Nihil, I mean. She no longer exists after all." X'ero paused for a moment. "But you talked to her... I do not know what to do... I... I'm not that person, Saïx. Not anymore."

"But you are what are left of her."

"Did you notice the eye patch?"

"Yes. It was hard to miss."

One of X'ero's finger pointed to Saïx or rather his yellow eyes.

"People say that the eye mirrors what inside the soul. I don't know if it's true, but those who are touched by darkness always have yellow eyes." X'ero withdrew her hand as if she was crushing something. "She was trying to hide it: The corruption of her heart..." X'ero jumped down from the stone and opened a portal. "Don't tell Zexion. I don't want him to know. I'm me – X'ero. Who I was in the past doesn't matter. I don't want him to see me for anything else than my present 'I'."

Saïx crossed his arms:

"In case that you haven't notice: Zexion and I are not exactly on speaking terms." X'ero didn't seem amuse be his comment.

"I won't tell anyone about this." Saïx finally said. "It's your business not mine."

"Thank you."

* * *

><p>Everyone looked rather surprised, when X'ero and Saïx entered the Grey Room.<p>

"Well, well." Xigbar said tugging X'ero hood away from her face. "And here we thought that we had lost you two to the Keyblade Master. I hope you didn't do anything too damaging to him, Princess. We need him in one piece after all."

X'ero tugged her hood back up. She really was too tired to deal with Xigbar right now.

"I'll go and report to the Superior." Saïx said quickly leaving the room to avoid Xigbar.

* * *

><p>"<em>Two <em>holidays," Saïx was surprised. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Xemnans nodded. "It will take to days to build the cannon. So the field teams might as well take those days of. Once this fake Kingdom Hearts is down, we'll begin working on limiting our number of enemies," Xemnas rubbed the back of his head. "And I expect_ that_ will be hard work. So tell the field teams to rest up and prepare."

"Of course."

Xemnas spread his arms.

"Soon. Soon we'll be rid of this useless moon, and we'll have Kingdom Hearts in our hands, and we can reclaim what is rightfully ours."

Saïx did not comment on the soon part. It had taken over a year to collect Kingdom Hearts last time, and then they have had two keybladers working for them. This time they had none and Sora was not exactly going out of his way to help them out. In Saïx opinion they needed something to speed the process up.

Once more Saïx noticed Xemnas rubbing the back of his head.

"Is something the matter?" Saïx asked.

"It's just an old wound acting up again. I must have been hit with something hard, but exactly what is lost with the rest of my memories."

"I see..." Saïx said. And he really did.

* * *

><p>X'ero too had freed herself of Xigbar and fled to the Proof of Existence. Before she could return to her own rooms and get some long overdue rest Zexion appeared, looking different somehow.<p>

"It's good to see that you made back," X'ero said, pulling the hood back down again.

"How dare you?" Zexion asked.

"Excuse me?"

"How dare you put so little faith in my tactical abilities?" He repeated, so extremely calm that it almost was scary. "Did you think I could not find a better tactic than separating and leave you alone to fend for yourself?"

"It was the most logical choice. And you agreed to it."

"Because I trusted you word. But clearly you were not capable of making it back in time, which mean that it was the wrong tactic."

"Getting us both killed both killed were of course the right choice." X'ero said sarcastically.

"So you really _do _have no faith in my abilities."

"I did _not_ say that."

"It sounded that way."

They stared at each other for a moment.

"Look," Zexion finally said. "Just, don't do something so stupid again."

"Stupid? It was the logically right choice."

"No it wasn't!"

"Yes, it was!"

With that X'ero and Zexion turned away from each other simultaneously and disappeared into their room through their tombstones. If they had had a door to slam with, both would properly have done it - Just to get the point across. But as it were there was no door to slam and thus all that was left from the non-existing fight was a deafening silence, stretching out like an impenetrable barrier between the two tombstones.

* * *

><p>Ns: There had to be a fight between X'ero and Zexion sooner or later. Besides X'ero still have a lot to learn about friendship and other people in general.<p>

Zexion and X'ero: This is not a fight!

Ns (backs away): Sure... If you say so. The next chapter will be up next wedensday.


	16. Chapter 16: Princess of the Heart

Ns: This chapter is kind of sad, I guess.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 16: Princess of the Heart<strong>

"You are what?" Saïx asked as he looked surprised at Larxene who had literally dragged X'ero into the Grey Room by her hood.

"I said: I'm taking X'ero to my original world for a girl night out in the city. Do you have a problem with that?"

It looked like X'ero had. She was trying to shake her head (a difficult task with Larxene's iron grip around her hood) and forming the word 'no' with her lips. Her visible eye had an almost begging expression directed at Saïx.

"It _is_ your holiday," Saïx stated. "I can't forbid it. But why?"

"Haven't you noticed the icy stares X'ero and Zexion were sending each other today? I think it is time for X'ero to learn how to flirt properly..."

"Whaaaat?" It was the first time Saïx heard X'ero shout. "No, no and no! I do not need learn that. I do not _want_ to learn that."

"Like you have a choice. You are way too fun and easy to tease."

"Traitor," X'ero whispered to Saïx as Larxene dragged off with her again. Saïx looked after them, shortly considering if he should perhaps had helped X'ero out. On the other hand X'ero was a strong woman and could fight Larxene off if she really wanted to. The interesting part was the fact that X'ero and Zexion apparently were having some sort of fight. Perhaps Saïx could use that to drive a permanent wedge between them; it would certainly make his life easier.

* * *

><p>Perhaps Saïx should have spent more time worrying what X'ero and Larxene were up to than plotting, as soon as the two girls had left the World That Never Was Larxene let go of X'ero.<p>

"F... flirting." X'ero mumbled, apparently still in so much shock that she was incapable of smiling her infamous smile.

"You should have seen your expression: It was priceless."

"... Let's just get down to it."

This was all Marluxia's idea. During their last meeting he had pointed out that it wouldn't do to fight the heartless of X'ero together with Saïx, not if she were to sneak Eraser in unnoticed. While X'ero could follow Marluxia's logic it still worried her, ever since her detour into the past X'ero had not felt perfect. As she couldn't remember the encounter with Saïx, X'ero could only conclude that her spell had succeeded, but her messing with her past darkness had changed something within her. The core of her own darkness was stored away in the depths of her mind, behind a barrier which held her darkest memories in check, but the inner barrier didn't feel strong, but frail. She was not eager to be confronted with her even darker side, right now.

"We got permission to leave," Larxene said not knowing X'ero's concern. "But how are we going to find it. Can't you sense it or something?"

"No, unfortunately not..."

"But you can sense all other heartless, right?"

"Yes, perhaps we should find the place with the highest concentration of heartless. I'm pretty sure my heartless is going to turn up sooner or later.

"Then we should go to the forest. If I remember correctly that place was crawling with heartless." Larxene slammed her hands together. "It's playtime."

The forest was indeed crawling with heartless, but they were no match for Larxene and X'ero.

"This is boring. Perhaps it is afraid of us." Larxene proclaimed with her arms crossed, disappointed that there was no action.

"I seriously doubt that."

A black feather flew through the air and into a tree trunk.

"Perhaps I should just open my big mouth." X'ero said dryly, both her and Larxene turning to the feathery monster – weapons ready.

"Thunderga!" Larxene's attack almost hit X'ero instead of the heartless, but as expected the magical attack was just absorbed by the feathers. Larxene charged in close, aiming a kick at the chain circle. A blue light formed in the circle as Larxene drew closer.

"Reflect!" X'ero's barrier was up just in time to reflect the dark-thunderga attack.

Larxene's attack actually connected to the blue chain sending the monster flying backwards. The air turned black with feathers in a second, blinding both girls. When the feathers were gone the heartless were gone to.

"Did it run?" Larxene asked.

"I seriously doubt that." X'ero said. Under her feet it felt like the earth tremble a little bit, then it cracked and roots erupted, reaching out at their feet threading to entangle them.

"Hell no!"

"Double dark-fire."

Larxene stomped on the vegetation while X'ero burned it. Barely had they finished before the trees began to swing their branches at them as if they were giants with leaf arms.

"What the..." Larxene said, blocking an attack. "I don't remember this forest being alive."

"I think there is heartless inside the trees." X'ero said, scanning the area.

"Possessors? They are common in Beast's Castle."

"My heartless must have summoned them. I can't control them as long as my heartless is in the area." X'ero burned the nearest tree with a double dark-fire spell. A round, black heartless flew out and into a new three as the first was went up in blue flames.

"Coward!" Larxene shouted. "Come out and fight properly."

A wicked laughter was heard and feathery heartless reappeared on a treetop.

"Why should I do that?" It asked. "You attacks may be as swift and sting as much as lightning. But once they had connected with the ground their energy are lost."

"What are you blabbering about? Just get down here so I can electrocute you properly."

"I think I will pass on the offer." The heartless began to vanish again.

"Wait!" X'ero said. "All I want is your half of Eraser."

"...No." The answer wasn't surprising, but X'ero still had to try and couch it out of the other.

"You can't use it anyway. And if you give it to me, we'll use it to take down Xemnas... He's... from back then... You know the brain behind the Echo Radiance project. "

"...It was his idea!" the heartless hissed. "His fault we ended up like this." The heartless mumbled to self. "How I want him dead... but I don't want _you_ to recover our heart. I want it, _I want it!"_

"It is lost..." X'ero said coldly. "Live with it."

"No, it is not lost – Not completely." The heartless placed a feathered claw over the chest were the heart would have been. "The hatred, the rage. Those feelings I have held on to, no clung myself to. Never allowed myself to forget. So long those feelings exist here - inside in my chest, so long will a part of the Lady Nihil still linger and therefore our heart is not completely lost."

"No, no!" X'ero shouted. "You have to let go! That sort of thinking, feeling... whatever it is, it's only destructive. Can't you see that?" She couldn't understand it. Surely nothing was better than hatred.

"Why do you deny your nature so? We have always been only darkness."

"I know..." X'ero shook her head in disbelief. She wasn't denying her nature. She had moved past it. Why couldn't her heartless understand that? "And you are surprised the Echo Radiance project was a failure. You can't create a weapon of light with a heart that only knows darkness."

"That is correct."

"Huh?" X'ero was so surprised that she didn't know what else to say.

"It is the light I fail. If I had light, then perhaps I could complete the project."

The heartless vanish in a whirl of feathers, leaving X'ero and Larxene to deal with the now possessed forest.

"You know what?" Larxene said. "Let the people of this world deal with the forest when they are out on their little picnic trips."

"I agree." X'ero said, opening a portal. "I think we can conclude that this little side mission was a complete failure."

* * *

><p>When the good gang had been separated Kairi for once hadn't ended up in a place where people wished to kidnap her, steal her heart or use her powers to open any weird doors to the darkness. Instead she had ended up in Radiant Garden where she now helped Leon and his gang out with the town restoration, waiting for Sora to drop by.<p>

"Dang," Yufie suddenly said. "I forgot to buy the ice cream. Those fairies plan to come by later today and they demand some sort of treasure."

Kairi laughed.

"I'll go back and get it."

Kairi turn around to return to the market, but the moment she was alone a terrible chill suddenly crept up her spine and caused her to summon her keyblade by reflex.

"Who goes there?" she asked.

"A Princess of Light..." a wicked, twisted and yet feminine voice surrounded her. Black feathers formed a grotesque, but humanly figure before her.

"Yes, such a heart should contain enough of the radiance needed."

"You won't get it." Kairi declared. "Because I promised... I promised them that I would always be together with Sora."

All the Nobodies were gathered to watch as the cannon were shooting the broken Kingdom Hearts down. A weird mood was filling the air between them. While the act was necessary to create a new Kingdom Hearts, it was still weird to watch that, which they had worked so hard for, be completely destroyed.

"That was it," Xaldin said as the final piece of the broken Kingdom Hearts fell from the sky and into the street beneath them.

"It is time..." Xemnas looked to the group; so far they had made it without losing members, and without anyone openly betraying the Organization. That was progress, he guessed. "Fellow Nobodies: Finally we can begin to rebuild that which will not just restore us to our former glory but also give us..."

Thump!

X'ero fell to her knees, efficiently interrupting Xemnas' speak. But Xemnas failed to lecture her, never in his life (or his none-existing one) had he seen a girl so pale.

"No," X'ero gasped while clutching her chest, her body shaking uncontrollably. "No, this can't be happening."

* * *

><p>In a world far away Sora looked to the sky, a single tear sliding down his cheek.<p>

"Sora?" Donald asked.

"I don't know," Sora said. "All of sudden I'm just so sad."

In Radiant Garden Yufie returned to look for Kairi, but she couldn't find her. Instead she found a passed out blond girl in a white dress. Beside her on the ground was a drawing block, containing a single picture of a white haired woman surrounded by black feathers.

* * *

><p>Ns: Don't hate me, because I did that to Kairi. It was necessary...<p>

X'ero: This is going to be trouble.

Ns: Yes it is. People _are_ going to die. It's supossed to be a war.


	17. Chapter 17: After Effect

Ns:

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 17: After Effect <strong>

"Kairi?" Xemnas asked, looking disbelieving at Xigbar. "_That_ Kairi?"

"Do we know more than one Kairi?" Xigbar said, looking extremely self-satisfied.

"Do we know for sure that she has lost her heart?" Saïx asked Xigbar, as usual not really trusting Xigbar to willingly reveal all of the facts.

Xigbar shrugged.

"Oh, I _know_ nothing. I just happen to hear a rumour that a girl fitting Naminés description has appeared in Radiant Garden."

"Naminé and Kairi became one," Xemnas said. "For Naminé to appear... we can really only draw one conclusion.

"This will affect Sora." Saïx pointed out. "And I doubt that it will be in a positive way. After all Kairi is special to Sora."

"I wonder if it is to our benefit or not..." Xemnas said thoughtfully. "Sora can be hard to predict..."

For a moment all tree Nobodies fell in to silence, trying to figure out all possible outcomes of the mess. But it was hard for these heartless beings to fully comprehend the impaction of losing one so close to the heart. Sora would be angry, of course. But what more?

Xemnas was beginning to think that Zexion's superior insight in human psychology was needed, when Xigbar broke his concentration by laughing.

"Well, aren't you two looking happy?" Xigbar said "And you haven't heard the good stuff yet."

"The good stuff?" Saïx's voice had acquired a slightly threatening tone. "What are you _not_ telling us?"

"Are you really sure you want to know? You might not like the answer..."

"Xigbar!" Xemnas warned.

"It's just the fact that X'ero seemed to have her little 'attack' simultaneously with Naminé's reappearance. Just a funny coincidence?"

Saïx stood up so abruptly that it for a moment looked like he was in danger of falling of his throne.

"...I forgot check up on the lesser Nobodies in the city. My apologize but I must take my leave now." He disappeared without further explanation.

Xemnas narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the now empty throne.

"My, my. And he says that _I _have a tendency to withhold information." Xigbar's yellow eye turned to Xemnas. "Should I have him shadowed?"

"That will be unnecessary. Saïx is no fool. He has properly already realized that he acted most uncharacteristic. If he is doing something suspicious he would make sure that he couldn't be shadowed and if not there would be no reason to follow him."

* * *

><p>Saïx was aware that he had acted recklessly, and while he was striding down the hallways, he was cursing himself for being so stupid. However, done was done and he no longer had a choice but to follow his thought to the end.<p>

Saïx entered the Proof of Existence and prepared to enter X'ero's quarters, but for once the portal to the Enchanted Darkness was sealed.

Saïx knocked on the tombstone.

"X'ero, open the door now! It's an order."

There was no reply.

"It's been tree day since we shot Kingdom Hearts down - and you first start to worry about X'ero now," Zexions voice came from behind him. "Some teammate you are..."

Zexion appeared from thin air, sitting on his own stone.

"X'ero seemed sick last time, so I assumed that was her reason for not turning up in the Grey Room. Why are her quarters sealed?"

"... Even if I knew that, do you think you would tell you?"

Saïx took one step closer to Zexion.

"This is no time for petty revenge plans. I need to ask X'ero something important."

"I do not think that a person who tries to kill me is a 'petty' matter." Zexion stated dryly. "But that has nothing to do with the fact that I won't bother X'ero with you."

"Something serious has happen in Radiant Garden..."

"Radiant Garden? But X'ero is here..." Zexions eye suddenly adopted a knowing gleam. "Of course..." He mumbled and teleported out before Saïx had the chance to question him.

* * *

><p>It was precisely as Zexion had realized. The reason that X'ero's rooms were sealed was that the rooms were missing an important person: X'ero herself. Instead she was in Radiant Garden, keeping an eye in the blonde girl she had seen briefly in a vision. X'ero just wanted to talk to the other Nobody, who she believed was named Naminé. However, one of the Town Restoration Committee members was always by Naminé's side, making it impossible to for X'ero to approach the girl unnoticed.<p>

X'ero crouch down one the roof praying that the ninja girl didn't look up.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Sora's gummiship is close by. Everything will be all right."

"No," Naminé said, hugging her drawing book tightly. "Not this time. I... I let Sora and Roxas down."

On the roof top X'ero narrowed her eyes. Three days had she been away. The other Nobodies would soon notice her absence. X'ero did know what had happen, but she wanted to hear it confirmed by another. No, she _needed _it confirmed. The truth was to horrid for her to grasp otherwise.

X'ero sighed. The ninja didn't move from the blonde Nobody- It looked like she didn't have a choice. She summoned her gloves.

"Double-Aeroga!"

The tornado took the ninja and the artist by surprise, sending them flying. X'ero jumped down from the roof on the same time as the other two jumped back of their feet.

"The Organization," the ninja girl screamed and readied a big throwing star.

"There is no need for violence," X'ero tried to explain. Perhaps she should have thought of this approach first. "I just want to speak to Naminé. I need to confirm something."

"We are not helping the Organization," the ninja girl said. "You guys are the bad guys."

"True." X'ero easily admitted. "But I'm not here on behalf of the Organization. This is for me."

Naminé looked closely at X'ero and then nodded her head.

"You are her Nobody." She stated.

X'ero nodded.

"I'm afraid so." X'ero stepped a little closer. "Please, I need to know precisely what happened."

Naminé shook her head.

"I'm sorry," she said. "But it's a mess. I'm not sure exactly what happen."

Naminé paused and slowly walk towards X'ero, as if she was afraid the other Nobody would attack her. Blue eyes looked into an orange eye, seeking the intent. Then Naminé extended her drawing book to X'ero.

"I drew some pictures. You can have them."

"Is that really okay?"

"I can always get a new sketch book. This is important to you."

"Thank you." X'ero said as she accepted the gift. "You are a nice person." She reached out to open a portal.

"Lady," Naminé said. "You do not have to stay in the Organization if you don't want to. We have friends that could help you out."

X'ero looked at Naminé and smiled her creepiest smile.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll pass." The Organization wasn't such a bad place for her.

* * *

><p>In the darkest part of the bastion that had once named Radiant Garden a crumbled paper flew into a confused group of heartless. The heartless first surrounded the paper ball, but since it didn't have a heart they quickly lost interest.<p>

"Stupid heartless," X'ero mumbled sitting in a window frame high above the ground. With the rough drawing she had seen, she could no longer be in denial. X'ero rested her head in her still gloved hands, the darkness vibrated against her skin as if it was trying to comfort and tempt her with the promise of the necessary strength. But against this foe darkness would not help.

"How did it come to this?" X'ero asked herself.

Underneath her all of the heartless began to fade into the floor and disappear out of the room. X'ero stood up, alerted. Then she saw the Light Hounds flooding the floor under her.

She cursed to herself and prepared to teleport out, but an armoured hand grab her right arm and twisted behind her back in a very painful manner.

"It was not really you I expected to meet first." X'ero said, trying to keep every trace of a whimper in her voice hidden.

"But I was not surprised to find you here among the darkest of darkness, _Lady Nihil_."

"I'm X'ero."

"Different name, same person."

X'ero said nothing, she was struggling to free herself from the knight's grip, but he was too strong, and with one arm immobile she couldn't double cast.

"It is not going to help," the knight said. "Darkness will never be strong enough to escape the justice of light."

"You are worse than I remember," X'ero growled. Irritated with herself and the situation. "You are not human anymore, are you?"

"No more than you. But now you'll bow to the light and open a portal to your new home."

X'ero's mouth opened slightly. Was he serious, she couldn't do that. Such an act would certainly be high treason. She looked around. The windows frame was not high and wide enough to really move around, on misstep and they would fall to the ground or through the glass window – and it was a really long way down either way.

X'ero closed her eyes, perhaps she could use the long way down to her advantage – even though it was a bit crazy. Using all of her leg muscles X'ero pushed her body abruptly backwards. The knight, not prepared for the sudden move, fell backwards too. The combined weight of the armoured knight and X'ero broke the glass window and they fell through. X'ero, who had planned the move, had the presence of the mind to grab the window frame with her left hand, ignoring the glass shards, cutting her hand. She looked down as the knight fell deeper towards the ground.

X'ero would have gloated if it wasn't for the fact that the rest of her plan had gone haywire. When they fell the knight had twisted her right arm even more and now it felt numb. X'ero tried to move her fingers, but she couldn't move them properly and thus she was incapable of using her right hand to open a portal.

"Shit!" she allowed herself to curse as she felt her left hand beginning to slip. "Shit!"

Two warm hands embraced her left hand. X'ero looked up and into Zexion's ice blue eye. Never had they been more welcome.

"You are here." She was too relieved to even be surprised.

"Yes. It's a good thing you were so visible hanging here - even from a long distance." Zexion said. "I'll teleport us out."

* * *

><p>Zexion and X'ero were the only ones in the Grey Room. So she allowed herself to drop down in one of the couches.<p>

"Thank you." she said. "That was close."

Zexion sat down beside her and carefully examined her arm.

"You should apply some potion bandages to this" he asked and then moved her attention to her face. "Are you harmed anywhere else?"

Her left arm was sore and she was just now beginning to feel her fingers in the right arm once more.

"I have been both better and worse."

"X'ero, can't you see it? This is what I meant." Zexion said in a serious tone. He placed his hand on cheek, the long side of her hair falling softly over it. But despite the comforting gesture his voice was still stern. "You can't do everything alone. You have to tell me when you plan these sorts of things."

"This is my problem. If I wanted your help I would ask."

"No you wouldn't," Zexion said. "That's the problem. You wouldn't even think of it."

He rose up from the couch.

"We'll talk later, when you are ready to talk sense." He left the room without looking at her again.

X'ero stared at the door. Whatever it was that Zexion demanded, she just couldn't understand it. Zexion should really give her a break. She wasn't experienced with the whole friend thing. It was then she realized that perhaps she should follow and ask him. They would never resolve... whatever this was if she didn't understand the problem.

She rushed out of the room to catch up with Zexion, but someone grabbed her shoulders, causing her knees to bulk in pain, thanks to her wounded muscles.

"Halt!" Saïx said as he turned her around to face him.

"Saïx, you are kind of hurting my shoulders." X'ero said. "Who many time much I explain to you that I am frail?"

Saïx didn't answer. His yellow eyes drilled themselves into her as he towered above her, his face more serious than ever. X'ero had never seen Saïx as intimidating before, but right now - in this instant she was ready to alter that opinion.

"What is it?" She asked.

"You _will_ answer this question honestly!"

"Eh... "

"X'ero, your heartless is no longer heartless." Saïx grip tightened around her shoulder, "It recovered its heart. It has become a Somebody - so to speak."

"That did not sound like a question." X'ero just said. Saïx leaned in closer.

"So it is true," he whispered.

That gleam in his eyes, the look on his face. If it wasn't for the fact that there currently didn't exist a moon in the World that Never Was X'ero would have sworn that Saïx was on the verge of going berserk.

* * *

><p>Ns: I hope the chapter was worth the wait. I'll try to have the next up in time.<p>

X'ero: I was wondering if you had a 'Zexion dictionary'. He's acting so confusing.

Ns (sweatdrop):... X'ero, Zexion is just... (defeated) I'll go and get you a dictionary - if it's exist. Be nice and review. I'll try to update in time.


	18. Chapter 18: The Spoken Words

Ns: X'ero may come across as a bit crazy in this chapter, but... It's really just one of those over and be done with chapters.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 18: The Spoken Words <strong>

The dungeon of the castle was rarely used, mainly because the Nobodies only took prisoners alive when they needed hostages and therefore there was no one to witness Saïx dragging X'ero through the white hallways.

"What is your problem?" X'ero screamed at Saïx while she tried to free her hand for his grasp. "Let go of me."

Saïx didn't answer, he didn't have to explain himself – after all he was X'ero's superior.

"Dark-firaga!"

Saïx ducked his head as the blue fireball flew over him, he turned around and grabbed X'ero's free hand. She winced in pain. Saïx wanted to roll his eyes. It was not like she was wounded.

"I will advise you to stop that attack right now!" Even to himself his voice sounded weird as a slight growl crept into it.

"You are growling at me." X'ero said still trying to free herself. "Be nice and _don't_ go berserk with me this close."

"There is no moon." Saïx pointed out, but stopped anyway. He could see what X'ero was getting at. The whole day he had been acting more rash and less composed than he liked.

"Perhaps it's like new moon," X'ero suggested. "I mean even though that Kingdom Hearts was incomplete it still functioned like a moon. Perhaps removing it equals a new moon phase."

Saïx thought for a moment. _Full moon_ but him under a permanent rage, but he had never thought about how a new moon would affect him. Had he been acting this way for three days? Saïx thought back: If he had been acting strange he hadn't noticed it, but the whole day he had followed his instinct rather than his logical judgment...

"Perhaps you are right."

"See..." X'ero said. "Then I can have my hands back..."

"No!"

"But..."

"I admit that I have been following my instincts today, but that doesn't mean that they are wrong." He dragged X'ero a little closer. "Give me one good reason that I shouldn't throw you into one of the prison cells designed for Nobodies."

"Why would you do that?" She was clearly confused.

"I will not allow you to leave the Organization and meet with your other. You'll be restrained until we have destroyed her."

"But I have to..."

"No!" Saïx's grip tightened. "I won't allow you to fuse with your other and gain a heart as the only one. This Organization's goal is a heart to _every_ Nobody. I won't allow you to become a setback just because you have an option other Nobodies doesn't have. I _won't_ let you leave the Organization."

It became apparent that X'ero hadn't paid attention to most of the words. Her face was as pale as it had been the day they had shot Kingdom Hearts down, her eye was unfocused and distant. Weakly X'ero dropped to her knees as if she no longer had the strength to stand.

"Fuse..." She said. "Fuse with..." X'ero looked desperately up at Saïx. He could feel her hands tremble. "Fuse..." She just kept mumbling that word as if her brain had switched from on to repeat.

Saïx tried to yank in X'ero's arms to get her up on her feet, but her body was limp and powerless, her legs simply refusing to support her weight. When he saw her already orange eye turn more and more orange until the colour was close to red, Saïx let go of X'ero.

"Snap out of it." He demanded, but X'ero was beyond his words, instead a veil of darkness began to surround her body and portals and summoning pools appeared randomly. Saïx knew what this was; he had seen it before when X'ero had had a nightmare, but this time she wasn't dreaming and Saïx was sure that he couldn't resolve the problem with a glass of water.

Few seconds later Saïx stood in front of the cloaked schemer's tombstone. He reluctantly knocked on it and a tired looking Zexion appeared.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Zexion asked..

"X'ero is sick." Saïx explained. "You have to say something to her."

At first it seemed that Zexion wouldn't believe him then he asked in a low voice:

"Where is she?"

"The dungeon area."

Without further words Zexion rushed off. Saïx shook his head. What was he doing? He should be using Zexion and X'ero's fight to split them up, not turn to Zexion for help. A mental picture of X'ero's pale looking face crossed his mind, and Saïx realized that he didn't want to see her that way. He wanted to see her as she had been in Wonderland, enthusiastic and alive. It was in that moment he knew that his behaviour this day had nothing to do with the moon. When it came to X'ero he had a habit with following his instincts, he had simply wanted to lock X'ero up because the thought of her leaving the Organization like Axel had done was... He wouldn't allow her to do it.

Saïx shook his head once more. What was he doing? Comparing Axel to X'ero... His eyes happen to cross over Marluxias and Larxenes tombstones and he heard the taunting voice of Marluxia echo in his mind:

"_You have obviously attached you self to the girl."_

* * *

><p>Zexion found X'ero in the dungeon area as Saïx had told him. At first Zexion had been hesitant to believe Saïx, but when he saw X'ero sitting in a dark corner surround by darkness, all arguments were forgotten. Zexion rushed through the hallways, ignoring the heartless coming from the randomly opening portals.<p>

"X'ero..." he said. "X'ero..."

She didn't react, just kept sitting in her corner trembling and repeating the same word over and over.

The darkness was a signal, Zexion guessed, a signal which meant to say: "Stay away!" But Zexion had no intent of doing so. He reached out and even though her darkness enveloped him too he embraced her. The smell of darkness alone was almost enough to suffocate him, but he could still smell the fresh brush of magic among it.

"Shh," he hushed. "I'm here. It's all right."

He could feel X'ero become tense.

"Zexion?" She struggled. "You mustn't touch me. I'm not in control."

"Darkness is not dangerous in itself. It is those who wield it there represent the danger." He paused. "You do not wish to harm me, do you?"

To his surprise he felt X'ero relax and then she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. He thought he felt her shook her head as an answer.

"I feel physically sick, whenever I think about it." She said.

"Think about what?"

There was a long pause and then in a whisper so low that Zexion barely heard it:

"...my heart."

"Your heart?" If Zexion had had a heart it would have stopped beating at that moment. "Don't tell me that you _don't_ want your heart back."

"You don't have any idea what I was like. All that hatred, the pain... I don't ever wish to go back to that." X'ero whispered into his shoulder. "When I think of it the darkness just seems so thick."

"X'ero, there is more to the heart than just darkness." Zexion tried to calm her down. "Even your heart."

"Like what? Joy? Happiness?" X'ero's head rose up from his shoulder, so she was face to face with Zexion. "Try to remember a moment where you were truly happy."

"That's easy. When Ansem gave me my first science book... I was so fascinated. Even said that I locked myself in my room and refused to talk with anyone, before I had read it through three times."

"The same Ansem that you betrayed and helped to banish from your world?" X'ero asked, no judgment evident in her voice, but the words still spoke from themselves.

"That was perhaps not the best example, but..."

"No," X'ero said. "It's perfect. Can't you see? You may be happy for a few days in your life, but in the end it's the sad moments, the arguments that you remember best. Happy ever after is a lie; No one can go through life without problems."

"..." Technically X'ero was right, but... "We are still not complete." Zexion said. That seemed to be a very important fact-

"So what? We are just not humans anymore. We are stronger, we don't age, and we are no longer ruled by the illogical whims of the heart. Why should I ever wish to return and take the step down the evolution ladder, back to being a human? You are a scientist, why do you need a heart to?"

For some reason X'ero reminded Zexion of Xemnas when he was talking about Kingdom Hearts. Somehow it was just impossible for Zexion to find the flaws in her arguments, but they had to be there.

"X'ero, I need time to think this over. I'm sure your argument is flawed, but I need time to think it through. But I promise: I won't lose you to your other."

"I am not her!" X'ero said and Zexion sensed that this was the real problem. "I'm not that woman. I have moved away from being her and I won't become her again. I won't... I won't become one with her..."

X'ero looked at Zexion so desperately awaiting some kind of answer.

"You won't become her and I'll help you find a strategy. You _will_ be safe." Zexion assured her, while he wondered what exactly this other X'ero had done in order for X'ero to be this much against her.

X'ero smiled her non-creepy smiled and the darkness around them dissolved.

"Zexion, thank you. When your brain is on it, I'm sure even my Somebody can be defeated."

Zexion took X'ero hand:

"Let's get you back to your room it has been a long day."

"True, but we should properly tell someone to clean the heartless up."

As they walked out of the dungeon area, Zexion noted that X'ero had not tried to free her hand from him, and he knew that he had won whatever it was they had been fighting about. It didn't matter then that he gained a massive headache.

"Zexion..." X'ero suddenly said. "About what I said. You don't have to think about it too much. I think I was a little beyond myself."

"X'ero, we are friends. Friends listen to each other."

"But I think I was saying a lot of rubbish," X'ero admitted.

"Everyone can have a bad day."

* * *

><p>None of them noticed a Shadow which had come in through one of the portals. Unlike the other of its kind it had some very small black wings. It sunk into the floor and followed the pair, so far away that Zexion couldn't separate its smell from the rest of the heartless now inhabiting the dungeon floor.<p>

* * *

><p>Ns: X'ero you have some serious problem with your control. Not to mention some serious issues.<p>

X'ero: Not my problem. It's your responsibilty that I solve my problems.

Ns: I stil kind of thinks they are your problem.

X'ero (sighs): Next week we'll start on the missions again. Be nice and review.


	19. Chapter 19: Divide and Conquer

Ns: Next bunch of chapter. The reloading is going quickly.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 19: Divide and Conquer<strong>

Even redheaded pyromaniacs needed their rest, so Axel was sort of sleeping behind a gravestone in Halloween Town. Rest, however, was not meant for the rouge Nobody. Barely had he closed his eyes before an ice-spell was shot at him. He woke up, ready to fight when he saw a white haired girl he never had seen before.

"Do I know you? Or are you just one of the usual nasty inhabitants of this world?" he asked.

"Nasty?" The girl turned her head to the left where a green bird clung to her shoulder. "I'm a nasty?"

"Negative!" The bird screamed.

"See, I'm not nasty." She said still petting the bird. "To answer you first question, however. When we last met I was a lot more... feathery."

"That girl's heartless!" Axel said surprised. "But how did you managed to...?"

"Recover my heart?" The girl asked. "Believe me: You _really _don't want to know."

The smile plastered on her face told Axel that her last statement where more true than he would like. The pure malice behind it was enough to send a chill down his spine.

"So why are you here? I doubt that you are the type to stop by for quick chat."

"I have some gifts for you." She placed her right hand over her chest area and darkness began to form in the heart region.

Alerted Axel summoned his weapons, perhaps this was the witch way of summoning heartless.

All the girl did was sticking her hand through the darkness and withdrawing it again with an black egg in her grasp. She handed the egg to Axel. I felt cool, but barely had he touched it, before it burst into flames and erupted into a small flaming bird that made itself home on Axel's shoulder.

"... I guess you really _are_ a fire affinity." The girl said. The black hole in her chest closing as if it had never been there in the first place.

"I think it is time for a quick Q and A." Axel began, but the girl shook her head.

"No, we have no time. They will arrive soon." She turned around and began to walk away - clearly expecting him to follow.

"Who made her boss?" Axel asked the bird. It didn't answer him, instead it just looked back at him with yellow eyes.

* * *

><p>If Saïx had had a heart this would be the point where his mood shifted from irritated to angry. He expected Demyx to be jumpy and sometimes nervous around him, but it wasn't a behaviour he could accept from X'ero. As soon as the others had left for their assigned mission, Saïx turned to his teammate, who was standing suspicious close to the door.<p>

"You can drop your guard now. I'm not going to imprison you."

"But you never change your opinion." X'ero pointed out. "I prefer to be in safe spell casting range."

A staring contest developed between the two of them. Saïx had to look away first.

"... I was wrong. I apologize." He really only said that to get X'ero to relax. (A dark firoga spell in his back wasn't a tempting option).

X'ero blinked.

"Did you - of all people - just apologize?"

"Enjoy it while it last. You'll never hear it again."

The plan was simple. They knew from previous experience that Sora could handle at least 1000 heartless at once, and when he first discovered what had happen to Kairi and was fuelled by anger, he should be able to handle more, and thus they had decided to send X'ero to the worlds Sora frequently visited in his travels and have her taking control of the heartless in these worlds. If they could make Sora battle 1000 heartless in each world it would speed up the creation of Kingdom Hearts and bring them to their goal quicker. That was the reason for X'ero and Saïx appearance in Halloween Town.

"The concentration of heartless is currently highest in the graveyard or at the strange hill." Saïx explained. "Either way we have to cross pass by the town." He looked at X'ero for a short moment. "The people in this world are a bit strange..." Saïx said. "but I think you will fit right."

X'ero looked at him, ready to shoot some kind of comment back, when he felt something tug at his coat and he looked down. Three small kids in strange costumes were looking at them.

"Trick or treat." The small witch said.

"We don't have time to play," X'ero mumbled loud enough for the kids to hear her. She was quickly surrounded by the small tricksters.

"But we want to play with the funny green haired lady."

"Believe me, I'm not funny...Whoa!" Somehow the three small kids succeeded in knocking X'ero into a bath tub with legs, and before Saïx knew it the she was carted off. The small tricksters scattered, before he had the time to catch them.

"Hide and seek." the devil shouted.

"No tag - you idiot!" the witch shouted back.

Saïx shook his head. Sometimes he couldn't help but suspect that X'ero got herself into these kinds of situations on purpose.

* * *

><p>Normally it wasn't hard to get up from a bath tub, but this particular bath tub was meant for kids and not for fully grown women and so X'ero, despite her petite status, was kind of stuck.<p>

X'ero, however, was a practical minded woman and she was not about to be abducted by a walking thin can with legs so she summoned her gloves and aimed a double dark fire at one of the legs. The bathtub titled and X'ero was finally free and muddy from falling onto spring wet forest ground, but at least she was not being attacked by anything. It was a strange forest with stranger trees that had signs on them.

Curiously X'ero step closer. The signs on the three seemed to be doors, so she opened the one formed as a green pointy tree. The inside of the tree was hollow so X'ero peered in. Suddenly she felt a light push at her legs.

"Tag, you are it!" One of the tricksters laughed, and X'ero fell.

Few seconds later X'ero was in a white world where the spring apparently yet had to win the war over the winter.

"Ouch!" She said. "I'm going to kill those little..."

"Ho ho ho..." A really fat man in red clothes extended his hand to her. "Can you stand, young lady?"

* * *

><p>Saïx was fast so he had no trouble catching one of the little midgets, the trouble was: There were three of them and he only had two arms. To solve that little problem Saïx choose the easy solution and stomped on the little witch.<p>

"Now, I'll only ask this once." He said as he shook the two boys in his hands. "Where is X'ero?"

"You are mean." The devil boy said.

"Oogie Boogie mean." The round boy continued.

"I'm also Oogie Boogie _evil_, so if you don't tell me where she is I'm..."

"She's with Sandy Claws in Christmas Town?"

"Sandy Claws?" Saïx decided it was beneath him. "Never matter." He threw the two boys away and lifted his foot from the girl. "Scram." He said.

To his surprise the children laughed.

"That was funny. Let's play again."

"..." Saïx turned around. Not wanting to waste more time on these maggots. But suddenly they all ran close and clung to his legs. His patience slipping Saïx was about to summons his claymore and deal with them once and for all when he noticed they were trembling.

"She's scarier than Oogie..." one of them said. Saïx saw up to the top of the strange hill where the white haired woman sat. Even though she no longer was a child, he had no trouble in recognizing her.

"Lady Nihil..."

She laughed. The same sick laughter as last time.

"Oh, so you already know my name." She floated down to the ground and a fighting barrier appeared trapping the four of them inside. "Then we can skip the introductions."

* * *

><p>X'ero was politely saying goodbye to Santa Claus after getting a long rent about naughty lists and being good and who knows what else.<p>

"I should properly look for heartless now." She said to herself as she closed the door. Saïx was going to kill her for being side tracked in this manner. As she turned around she saw a person she had wished _never_ to see again.

"You!"

"Tell me: Where you on the naughty list too?" Axel asked.

X'ero couldn't help, but noticing the fire bird sitting on his shoulder.

"No, I was not on the naughty list." X'ero summoned her gloves, "but I'm getting there after killing you." She slammed her hands together. "Double Blizzaga."

The bird flapped its wing.

"Ice spell, ice spell." It screamed.

To X'ero's horror her spell changed direction midway and was absorbed into the flaming bird.

"An Echo..." She said.

Axel smirked and spread his arms. A wall of fire appeared, trapping X'ero inside a burning arena.

"Prepare to get it hot, Baby."

* * *

><p>X'ero: That's cheating. They shouldn't be working together. I'm not good a working with people.<p>

Ns: Actually they are attacking you separatly.

Saïx: Get those kids out of my way so I can fight.

Ns: I can't just make them vanish. That would be illogical.


	20. Chapter 20: Discovery

Disclaimer: Neither Kingdom Hearts nor any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts belong to me.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 20: Discovery <strong>

Once he went berserk everything but the target became irrelevant to Saïx and therefore he flew at the white haired magician without regards to the magic aimed at him or the children caught between his claymore and her magic.

"Be gone!"

Saïx was thrown back by an aeroga spell, but he landed on his feet and immediately dashed at his enemy again, even though the logical part of his brain told him that this strategy was useless.

"Triple aeroga." A tornado headed straight for him and Saïx was unable to dodge in his berserker mode. He landed hard on the ground, but managed to pick himself up again - his rage finally running out.

"Do you always just swing that sword around wildly?" Nihil asked in a cocky tone. "Do you _ever_ hit something?"

"That is the style of a berserker." Saïx said coldly. As Saïx recalled, Nihil, should be capable of activating three spells at once, but such a fighting style had to rely heavily on magic energy and Lady Nihil seemed, unlike X'ero, to lack the endless supply of magical energy.

Saïx stood up and readied his claymore once more. He would drain her from energy and then she would be defenseless against his berserker state.

"The mean lady hit him good," one of the little trickster whispered behind his back. "Perhaps we should hide behind her instead?"

"No, she's still meaner."

Saïx clearly saw the small muscles at Nihil's eye twitch.

"Shut up cretins, or I'll obliterate you first."

"Not one for children, I take it? Did you lose your maternal instinct somewhere in that dark mind of yours?"

"My what?" the witch shook her hand at Saïx. "Listen you; I don't know what the hell you are talking about, but these midgets aren't children. Besides…" She smiled. "I don't care if it is small children or helpless stray dogs. I'll remove any obstacle in my path."

"Helpless stray dogs?" Saïx almost growled.

"Yes," she said. "Is that not all you are? A tamed wolf, forced to serve the whims of your master - nothing but a pathetic creature."

"…Woman…" Saïx said very calmly. "You are going to die a most horrible death."

Nihil laughed,

"Like you could…" suddenly she stopped, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Where did those midgets disappear to?"

Saïx glanced behind him, and truly the three little tricksters were gone, but not for long. Saïx spotted the three behind Nihil, perhaps she sensed it too because she turned around.

"Surprise." The devil one said, throwing something that looked like a bomb at Nihil. It exploded into a smelling green gas.

"A stink bomb… " Nihil gasped.

Saïx wasted no time. He charged at her while she was distracted, hoping Nihil wouldn't notice him in time to cast a spell.

It all happened in a matter of seconds, Nihil turned around in time to realize that Saïx was so close that he could drive his claymore through her. He saw a flash of fear and realization in his eyes, but instead of connecting with soft flesh he hit something of an unknown origin.

Saïx couldn't believe his eyes. The weapon Nihil had blocked with looked suspiciously like a keyblade. Its shape was a lot like Riku's Souleater, but it was not made of metal, but something dark and unsubstantial.

"A keyblade…" Saïx more asked than said. "But… how?"

"Oh… I have owned it for a long time…" She laughed. "But I must thank you."

"Thank me?"

"Yes. After becoming a heartless I had quite forgotten how to summon Eraser. I really needed a proper fight."

"You used me!" Saïx concluded. The thought didn't exactly make him less intent on killing her.

"Indeed I did." Nihil examined the keyblade properly. Then she shook her head. "It's not finished. All that work and it is still not finished."

Her eye met Saïx, and in that moment they both realized what or rather who was missing.

* * *

><p>"X'ero…" Zexion said to Vexen in the laboratory. "X'ero is unstable."<p>

"Unstable?" Vexen asked while preparing an experiment on one of the lesser Nobodies. "How precisely?"

"The darkness," Zexion explained. "I don't think she has any control over it."

Vexen nodded.

"You want to hear my theory?" he asked. "I don't think X'ero is a darkness affinity at all - not naturally anyway."

"That would explain her lack of control…" Zexion said. "But how did she gain darkness as her affinity, then?"

"I don't know, but I would love to experiment on her to test it." Vexen cackled for himself.

"Don't even think about it." Zexion said. "I was asking your professional opinion." He turned the feather he had stolen from X'ero in his hand, examining it as if the answer was hidden in the black color. He didn't want to admit it, but there was a certain logic behind X'ero's words. Uncontrollable emotion could bring pain and submitting oneself to pain for no reason was midnless, but lacking a heart was still a flaw. Not being able to feel properly was a flaw.

"Vexen…" he asked. "Why do we want our hearts back?"

"To be complete again." Vexen answered not even looking up from his experiments.

"But we'll revert to those people we were back then, won't we?" Zexion said. He turned the feather once more. "What if a Nobody doesn't wish that? Isn't it regress instead of progress."

Vexen finally looked up.

"You are asking about X'ero, are you not?"

"I'm just wondering what kind of person her other is, " Zexion said. "X'ero seem to resent her so much."

* * *

><p>Nihil was a bitch. Saïx had no other words for it. She had teleported out as soon as they both had realized that X'ero had to be the key to Nihil's key. Luckily enough it had removed the barrier, but not matter how fast he were he knew that Nihil would arrive in Christmas Town first.<p>

When Saïx arrived at Christmas Town it wasn't the scene he had expected. There had been a fighting that much was clear from the burn down buildings and the melted snow, but X'ero seemed all right. In fact she was sitting on a door step being consoled by… Santa Claus. Saïx blinked, but the fact didn't change. It was Santa Claus.

"I stopped believing in you when I was five." Saïx said as he arrived.

X'ero looked up confused, but she realized that Saïx wasn't talking to her.

"Ho ho ho…" Santa Claus said. "I know that." Then he looked at X'ero. "See I told you, that your friend wouldn't be mad. He is just happy that you are alive."

"Alive?" Saïx looked sharply at X'ero.

"My magic didn't work. Axel won."

"But you are still alive."

"He just retreated all of a sudden." X'ero paused. "They are working together: Nihil and Axel. It was she who ordered Axel to retreat."

"I know that - she attacked me." Saïx eyes didn't waver from X'ero's face. He wanted to see her reaction, to see if she was lying, when she answered his next question. "X'ero, are you gloves your only weapon?"

"Yes!" Nothing in her face betrayed any lies. Saïx decided against asking her about the keyblade, she wouldn't answer if he asked directly and if he was subtle about it she would purposely not get the hint.

"We still have a mission to complete." He simply said.

X'ero nodded, but then stopped.

"I forgot. Axel demanded that I gave you this." She handed Saïx an envelope.

He opened it half and half expecting it to explode, but it contained nothing but a letter.

"Did you read this?" he asked.

"No, I don't want to get involved more than I already am."

"I see. I need to read this. Why don't you wait at the entrance to Halloween Town."

"Sure."

Saïx watched X'ero's form as she walked away. Then he read the letter:

_Saïx_

_A certain white haired witch informed me that your new friend is pretty tight with Marluxia and Larxene, but it shouldn't surprise you - You never had any luck with the girls in the first place._

_Axel _

Saïx crumbled the paper, a thousand thoughts theories about Axel's motivation ran through his head. But the only thing he said was:

"You are wrong Axel. She's not _my_ friend."

"Perhaps you shouldn't rethink that statement." Santa Claus said. "I remember a little boy who couldn't wait to show his new telescope to a his best friend Christmas morning. Would you really sacrifice a friendship just for power?"

"The boy grew up and died," Saïx said coldly. "Besides she is _not_ my friend."

* * *

><p>Ns: Uh oh, Saïx is unto X'ero. That can't be good.<p>

X'ero: You are not kidding.

Ns: I'll have the next chapter up by thursday.

X'ero: "Riiiight... we really believe that."

Ns: I will.


	21. Chapter 21: Mind games

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 21: Mind Games<strong>

"A letter?" Zexion asked X'ero as she had finished telling him about the day's events. "Did you happen to read it?"

X'ero shook her head.

"Pity," Zexion said. "It was not doubt interesting."

"No doubt," X'ero answered him dryly. "But I'm no spy." She rubbed her eyes. "I'll retire to my own quarters. It's surprisingly tiring to enchant a thousand heartless in one world to be aggressive towards one, and only one, person."

"It is worrying that your other and Axel are working together. Strategically speaking, it is easier to defeat an isolated enemy."

"Lady Nihil" X'ero said out in the blue.

"Huh?"

"That's her name. Not my other. Not my anything. She is..."

That was a knock on the door to Zexion's quarters. He reluctantly opened it to find Xigbar grinning at him.

"Boy, are you in trouble..."

Zexion hastily teleported into the throne room, only to find Xemnas and Saïx were waiting for him. He knew that this was a set up from Saïx.

"Zexion, Saïx here just gave me an interesting report about his last mission."

No doubt, Zexion thought, but out loud to he only said. "Yes, X'ero told me about it herself."

"Really?" Xemnas said, and Zexion saw the suspicion in his eyes. "Did she also mention that Saïx fought her Somebody?"

"Yes."

"I'll like you opinion on something." Xemnas said. "X'ero's other hinted something about X'ero's loyalty..."

All the facts clicked in place. One: X'ero had some kind of past relation - possible a grudge against Xemnas. Two: X'ero was friendly with Larxene, Three: Saïx had received a note from Axel, who had allied himself with this 'Nihil'.

It was brilliant, Zexion would give Saïx that much. By claiming that the information came from X'ero's other, the information became just enough credibility that it couldn't be ignored, but on the other hand the source of information was so unreliable that it would be a shame to waste three members by acting on it. The end result would be that Marluxia, Larxene and X'ero would be under a stronger suspicion, but they weren't really trusted in the first place so it wouldn't change anything for them. Zexion, however, was known for his intelligence and skills to manipulate. There was no way that Xemnas would believe that Zexion simply didn't know who X'ero allied with - not with the time Zexion spent with X'ero. It would seem that Zexion's loyalty had wavered, and then anything Zexion did to discredit Saïx would seem a part of a scheme. A truly brilliant plan...

All that went through Zexion's head in a matter of seconds, but so did a counter attack.

"Lady Nihil, the name of X'ero's other, properly hinted to the fact that I asked X'ero to befriend Larxene and Marluxia." Zexion said that as if it was the most normal favour to ask. He shook his head in a resigned manner and continued his lies. "After learning what happen to my poor illusion at Castle Oblivion, having a person I _trust_ close to Larxene and Marluxia just seemed necessary, but surely Saïx already know that. I told X'ero to report it to him."

"She has done no such thing." Saïx said, barely able to contain his glare and with that he walked straight into the trap laid out for him.

"That's strange..." Zexion said. "Unless..."

"Unless what?" Xemnas asked.

"Well I told her not to say anything to Saïx if she suspected him of being involved. I don't want any 'accidents' to happen to X'ero."

"What?" Saïx's calm posture wasn't able to hide the light growling in his voice. "Are you accusing me of being in cahoots with Marluxia and Larxene?"

"I would never do that. I mean why should you wish to conspire with the _all other_ _neophytes_? I'm just a bit worried about everything. After all it is a bit suspicious that both Axel and this 'Nihil' seem to know which world to attack."

"Axel?"

"Yes, he attacked X'ero while she was on her own."

"We got separated by accident," Saïx explained.

"That is believable. As second in command it must be hard for you to keep track of your team."

Xemnas puts his hand out.

"Enough!" he demanded. "Perhaps, we should have Xigbar look into this. It seems you are a bit flawed on the matter number VII."

"As you wish, Superior." If it was possible to stare people to death, Saïx would have killed Zexion right there.

* * *

><p>"You are going to regret this!" Those words were the first Saïx said when they were out of the Throne Room.<p>

"No." Zexion said calmly. "I'm not going to regret it. You are in a completely isolated position. You have no allies left, and no chance to assassinate me as long as I'm here in the castle, and on top of that you are and will always be a neophyte. I'm really enjoying watching your fall from your position, and believe me: You are already falling, whatever you accept it or not."

Saïx towered Zexion, using the difference in their height as an unspoken threat:

"You are right. I can properly not win this war." He surprisingly admitted. "But if you insist in continuing this battle, I'll make sure you lose as much as I. You have, after all, an... item you are rather... attached to. I'll make sure you lose that."

Zexion narrowed his eyes. The only 'thing' that Saïx had a change to damage was not really a thing, but for Saïx to stoop this low...

"If you are talking about X'ero, then she is more than capable of defending herself."

"How naive," Saïx said. "Why should I have the need to attack her? Back when you were hauled up in a laboratory studying hearts and plotting to overthrow your master with the rest of the Elder Nobodies, I had a life and a rather... outgoing friend too. I may have been told that I am 'picky', but I'm still way more experienced in the mysterious way of the mind of a woman than you. Up till this point I have respected that X'ero belongs to you. But if I can't take anything else from you then I'll steal her and drag her down with me, should I fall from my position."

"You cannot intimidate me." Zexion said coldly. "X'ero is in her own way loyal to me."

"The connection between X'ero and you is meaningless without a heart." Saïx stated as he walked away. "It can easily be broken, and I am good at breaking things."

* * *

><p>It was the stench in the room that first told X'ero that something was wrong. Rare flowers, dangerous poison and even a little blood were mixed together in a toxic combination flowing from her sleeping room. X'ero knew what the smell was: Someone had been in her potion ingredients and mixed them all together. She ran over her training grounds and swung the door into her bed room open, hoping to catch the culprit red handed.<p>

It was much, much worse than first anticipated. Through a thick poisonous mist, that was the leftover from her toxins and potions, X'ero saw that her room was ransacked. Her bed was split up, her table was thrown around so that her bottles had dropped to the floor, every parchment she owned was shredded and all her clothes (not that she owned that many) was thrown on the floor. Putting her arm up to cover her mouth and nose, X'ero ventured inside her room, hoping to find something that was not destroyed. But her feeble attempt to cover her mouth couldn't prevent her from inhaling some of the bad air. X'ero felt her eyes water and her lungs violently protest against her attempt to breathe. She had no choice, but to flee her own room. Outside in the Proof of Existence, she found Saïx at her tombstone, his hand lifted as if he was prepared to knock on the entrance.

"X'ero, I wanted to talk... are you crying?"

X'ero lifted her own hand, signaling him to wait while she gasped for fresh air:

"Just... (cough)... a... (cough)... minute."

_Two_ minutes later X'ero was drinking the remains of a High Potion while sitting on some stairs outside a giant skyscraper.

"I didn't know we had a city." She said as she watched one of the dusks pass by.

"You know now," Saïx said. "and you looked like you could use some fresh air."

"My room has been ransacked," X'ero explained. "I don't know how they got in."

"Is anything missing?"

X'ero thought about it for a moment. She hadn't been able to check her room so much, but...

"The black feathers on my table are missing." She said. "And all my potions and poison are destroyed. I don't have any of my ingredients, and they are both rare and dangerous."

"Hmm..." Saïx said. He fished a long list out from his pocket. "I doubt the moogle sells what you need, but perhaps we could visit the other worlds in a different order. The taverns at Port Royal are known for selling... dangerous stuff. "

X'ero looked at the list a little peeved.

"Don't tell me you guys expect me to mess with the heartless in all these worlds."

"The more heartless Sora fights, the quicker are Kingdom Hearts restored."

"..."

Saïx didn't notice (or ignored) X'ero's worried face.

"But you will have to go to Port Royal with Luxord and Demyx." Saïx said.

"Why?"

"Port Royal is known for its long evenings and magical moonlight." Saïx paused. "I usually avoid worlds with a magic moon - They tend to affect me too."

"Is that a bad thing? I thought the moon made you stronger."

"They do, but magical moonlight gives me side effects which Xigbar finds funny."

"If it is something Xigbar finds funny I'll rather _not_ see it." X'ero said dryly. She still did not appreciate being called 'Princess' in such a mocking tone.

Saïx nodded and turned his head so his yellow eyes rested on X'ero.

"What I came to say is that I want you to spend the coming afternoons with me." Saïx snapped his fingers before X'ero could ask why and some huge Nobodies with claymores appeared. "These are Berserkers, they are my personal squad. We all have some lesser Nobodies like that under our command. It is time for you to learn that too."

"Okay..." Truthfully X'ero thought that heartless was enough - She didn't need to control Nobodies too, but something in the way Saïx calculating eyes hadn't moved an inch from her face, told her that this was an order she wasn't allowed to question.

* * *

><p>Ns: You should really think that Saïx and Zexion had better things to do than fighting each other.<p>

Zexion: I'm not going to forget that Saïx tried to kill me.

Saïx: Get over it.

Zexion: No!

Ns: Boys will be boys I guess, whatever they fight with their muscles or their brains.

X'ero: I don't want to go on a mission with Demyx, he doesn't work.

Ns: It's not your choice, it's kinda important to the story.


	22. Chapter 22: Vanishing Heartless

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters of Kingdom Hearts. I also don't own anything from Pirates of the Carabian.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 22: Vanishing Heartless<strong>

"I don't like playing on the losing team," Luxord said to X'ero as she hung over the ship rail, trying to fight back the greenness in her face. "Are you absolutely sure?"

X'ero nodded. Why did ships have to rock like that?

"Then we have been dealt a very bad hand."

A cheery Demyx felt the need to meddle in the conversation.

"I don't get why you two are sulking so much." He said. "No heartless, means no fighting, which means an easy mission for us."

"Then you will tell Saïx that we couldn't take control of the heartless of this world."

"No, no!" Demyx hastily said waving his hands in front of his face. "That's totally X'ero's job, she's his partner after all."

X'ero would have pushed Demyx of the ship if she didn't feel so sick.

"I know a witch in this world, who can properly sell you all the ingredients you need." Luxord said looking at X'ero. "If you are up to it, that is."

* * *

><p>Cold fingers lifted X'ero's chin as she was examined by the weird witch.<p>

"I see you," Tia Dalma said. "Tell me do you see me too?"

"I think so," X'ero said from her chair.

Tia Dalma smiled a dark smile a looked over the list X'ero had given her.

"So you want me to sell you these thing, Witch of Nothing and Darkness?"

X'ero nodded.

"Then I'll find them for you. You are helping me, right handsome?"

Always the gentleman Luxord agreed.

Once they were alone Demyx finally dared to peek in.

"She's as weird as you," he said. "Is that a witch thing?"

X'ero flashed Demyx her biggest 'disaster'-smile and he immediately backed away.

"Was there anything you would like to say, Demyx?"

Demyx shook his head and an awkward silence spread between them. Demyx was restless; he dared not summon his sitar out of fear of angering Tia Dalma (Where ever she was), instead he tried to break the silence be speaking with X'ero about the only subject they had in common.

"So why are you helping them... you know..."

X'ero looked up.

"This is hardly the place for that conversation." She said firmly to prevent Demyx from saying something that Luxord shouldn't hear.

"I just mean. You are pretty friendly with Zexion, and Saïx is your partner." Demyx began. "Aren't you afraid you'll hurt their feelings?"

Had X'ero not been shocked speechless, she would have laughed - loudly. Hurt their _feelings_? Did Demyx just mention Saïx and feelings in the same sentence? And it was not like Zexion was Mr. Heartfelt either... The only thing X'ero could figure out how to say was...

"You are really an idiot!"

It was like a shadow fell over Demyx's face. He simply stood up.

"Yes..." he said in a strange voice, void of that perkiness it usually had. "Everyone seems to think that. I'll wait on the boat."

And with that Demyx was gone. X'ero couldn't help but think that she had said something wrong, but before she could do anything Tia Dalma and Luxord returned.

"This is for you," the other witch said. "As for payment..."

"I've munny..."

"Oh no," Tia Dalma leaned closed to X'ero and whispered in her ear. "I'll not take your munny, but next time you need to flee a world I expect you to remember Tia Dalma. Come here and bring along some recipes of your own."

"Next time?" X'ero asked, but the audience with Tia Dalma was over and they were showed out.

"What was she playing at?"Luxord asked.

"I don't know." X'ero said. Tia Dalma had given her so many bottles and packets with ingredients that X'ero barely could see where she was walking. "I can tell she's not human, but what she is I can't say..."

From the ship that the Nobodies had 'borrowed' came some harsh, fast tunes.

"That doesn't sound like one of Demyx's usual melodies." Luxord said.

"..."X'ero concentrated on her bottles.

"Don't worry about it. Demyx has an incredible short-lived memory. Whatever it is that is nagging him, it will be long forgotten tomorrow."

X'ero already knew that, but the knowledge didn't remove the bad taste in her mouth.

* * *

><p>"No heartless?" Saïx asked Xigbar as Xigbar and Marluxia's team returned.<p>

"Nope!" Xigbar said. "They have all just up and disappeared in the Land of Dragons. Only interesting thing was that a white haired lady was seen."

'Nihil!' Saïx thought. What was she up to?

A dark portal opened as Luxord, Demyx and X'ero returned.

"...Ehm." X'ero said behind a swaying stack of potion bottles and other lethal looking packets. "We didn't find any heartless."

"That makes at least two worlds." Xigbar said. "Interesting habit."

"Then it is not our fault," Demyx suddenly asked. "So we are not going to be punished?"

"I assume not," Saïx answered.

"Good!" Demyx and quickly left before Saïx changed his mind, he remembered to demonstratively slam the door when he left.

"What's eating him?" Xigbar asked when they were over the initial shock.

Saïx clearly saw X'ero duck her head behind all her bottles. Something told him that X'ero properly was behind Demyx current mood swing, but it didn't matter. Of all the Nobodies Demyx was the most forgiving one.

"X'ero," Saïx said. "Get rid of those bottles and then return here. I hope you have not forgotten your special assignment."

"Of course not." X'ero almost walked into Lexaeus, who then proceeded to be the only one polite enough to free X'ero from half of her items.

"You should not carry more than you can bear." He looked around and nodded to Saïx and Xigbar. "We need to talk. XI and XV should properly come too."

It was hard to say who looked more confused: Marluxia or X'ero.

* * *

><p>The four of them met in a strange control once Lexaeus had helped X'ero to put her new ingredients away.<p>

"This is where Lexaues monitors our new defense system." Saïx explained to X'ero when he saw the question in her face.

Lexaues did say anything to Saïx's comment. He just slammed a large stack of paper on the table and looked at Marluxia, clearly expecting something from him.

"This..." Marluxia looked through the papers. "This is data on Castle Oblivion."

"I thought we abandoned that old place." Xigbar said. "Didn't we agree that it was too hard to both protect this world and a castle placed between light and dark?"

"We did. I still see what going on there." Lexaues didn't look like he wanted to discuss this. "I saw something strange."

"Yes..." Marluxia said, reading through the papers. "I can see it too." He pointed to some numbers. "The heartless concentration is too high. Should there even be heartless there, when we are not messing with the memories of the keyblade-wielder?"

Lexaues pointed to another number.

"The magic concentration is too high too!"

"Nihil!" X'ero said.

Xigbar laughed:

"That explains where the heartless are going." He patted X'ero hard on the back. "But I got to say, Princess. If I get my heart back..."

"_When_ we get our hearts back." Saïx interrupted.

"Whatever... what I wanted to say was: The first thing I'll do, sure as hell isn't to begin to kidnap heartless and move into an abandoned castle between light and dark. You true self is a bit..." Xigbar pretended to have to search for the right word. "...nutty."

Even Xigbar backed away when X'ero eeriest smile crept up on her face.

"So besides being insulted, why am I here?"

"Advise."

X'ero looked at Lexaues.

"Advise?"

"Should we retake Castle Oblivion," Saïx explained. "The decision is ultimately Xemnas's, but you know Nihil best. What would she do if we tried?"

"Kill us!" X'ero said with a shrug. "My territorial sense is a trait we have in common. Not to mention that she has properly filled the castle with traps, heartless and Echoes."

"Echoes?" Xigbar asked.

"You don't want to know."

"I'll report this to Xemnas," Saïx finally said. "But I agree with X'ero for a different reason: It is better that we now know the location of one of our enemies. The biggest problem is her snatching the heartless."

"She's good, but not _that_ good." X'ero said. "Heartless are the physical manifestation of darkness of the heart. Even if they are completely eradicated in a world, they will reappear within a month or two." X'ero shrugged. "I just don't think it's worth fading for."

* * *

><p>Outside of the meeting room Saïx sighed. First teaming up with Axel, then acquiring a keyblade, then kidnapping heartless, Nihil sure knew how to get in the way.<p>

"You really messed up big time," Xigbar suddenly popped up behind him interrupting his thoughts.

"What?"

"Xemnas suddenly asks me to assure that you are not working with our two traitors." Xigbar shook his head. "My first thought to that order was to fall of my throne - laughing, but then something hit me. You are the only thing in common."

"You have lost me."

"Sure Marluxia and Larxene are plotting, but Larxene seems to have taking a liking to taunting X'ero, and X'ero and Marluxia never speak, and Larxene and Marluxia are forbidden to communicate. I actually thought one of our plans were working for once, when Xemnas very precisely pointed out that you, Saïx, are the only one to speak with both of them. "

"Because I issue the missions." Saïx said coldly.

"Personally I think you are far too ambitious to ever take order from someone with a lower rank than yourself, but you did have Axel take Zexion's illusion out. Did you think I didn't know that? It is my job to know everything."

Saïx grabbed the collar area of Xigbar's coat.

"Have you told him?" He asked.

"Xemnas? – No, didn't seem necessary at the time. Besides you and Axel were kept in a short leash, and then Axel decided that Roxas was worth more than you. A stray dog without a pack is no danger."

Saïx hands were shaking, he didn't understand. Inside he felt as hollow as usual, but his body reacted as if it finally found an excuse to release all the buildup anger at once. He wanted to throw Xigbar out of the nearest window, he wanted to cleave him in half with his claymore, rip him to shreds with his hands if he had to.

"Axel is a fool." A woman suddenly said.

"Princess," Xigar laughed as Saïx released him. "How much did you hear?"

"All of it," X'ero said seemingly undisturbed. "And I stand by my opinion: Axel is a fool who chose to follow a bigger fool."

"By bigger fool I assume you mean Roxas. You are quick to judge a person you never have met."

"He joined with Sora. That says all."

"By all likelihood the same fate that awaits you, Princess."

"..." X'ero smiled and summoned her gloves. "I dare you to repeat that sentence, One-eye."

"One-eye? Are you picking a fight?" Xigbar summoned his guns.

"What if I am?"

The two nobodies stared at each other, tense and prepared for an attack, but Xigbar ultimately decided to dismiss his weapons.

"It's not worth getting into trouble with the Boss, I'll sure we'll have a chance to dance later, you don't seem like the loyal sort." Xigbar disappeared.

"That was unwise." Saïx commented.

"I know," X'ero said. "And I know you'll properly say that it is none of my business, but you just looked like Xigbar was getting to you."

Saïx bowed a little down so they were more face to face.

"X'ero, were you trying to stand up for me?"

"I don't know the expression 'stand up for', but... I'm really sorry I interfered. I just thought that... I don't know what I thought."

"X'ero..." Saïx brushed the long side of her hair away so he could see both of her eyes. "Thank you."

X'ero blinked once, then twice. It seemed that she didn't know how to handle his thanks. Well, he didn't thank people a lot so it was not surprising. She opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly stopped. Saïx would never have notice it, if he hadn't brushed her hair aside, but now he saw it. Her left eye shone with a more orange light than her right. X'ero stepped back.

"Darkness." She said. "I can sense it in the laboratory." X'ero turned around and began to run towards the cellar area. Saïx was sure he heard her mumble 'Zexion'.

* * *

><p>Zexion had had a busy day. He had tried to analyze the black feather as a mysterious headache had slowed him down, but finally he was getting some sort of result.<p>

"You are never going to believe this." He said to Vexen. "But when I put this thing under the microscope, I suddenly saw a picture of Castle Oblivion in my head."

"Oblivion?"

"Yes, it was like looking through a... handheld camera."

"Hmm... Are the feathers, perhaps, still a part of the one who created them?" Vexen suggested. "Perhaps we can figure out this Lady Nihil's movements with the feather."

Zexion thought about what X'ero had told her about the break in. Wasn't it the feathers that had gone missing? Perhaps Nihil had smuggled a heartless in when X'ero had lost her control. But that meant that there was a loose heartless somewhere in the castle, a heartless that would be capable of breaking through the barrier since it always could be opened from inside. He put the feather inside a pocket in the cloak and closed his eyes, trying to focus on one sense only.

He could smell it, the smell of darkness was faint and resembled the smell of X'ero so much that he almost didn't notice, but it was clearly there.

"We have a heartless in this laboratory. A shadow, I think."

"Where?"

"Behind those boxes, I think."

They carefully moved the boxes to a side and saw that a small, but winged heartless was hiding there.

"What a rare species." Vexen said. "Let's capture it and examine it. Perhaps we can find a method to improve the nobodies."

Zexion summoned Lexicon.

"We definitely have to do something... What?"

Shadows don't jump. Everyone knew that. They were the weakest and most common form of heartless and their only ability was sinking into the floor and clawing at people. They _don't_ jump. Unfortunately someone had forgotten to tell this specific heartless that crucial truth, it leaped at Zexion a clawed itself to his coat, trying to rip it off.

Zexion lifted Lexicon and hit the heartless a hart as he could.

"Get!" _Smack!_ "Off!" _Smack! "_Me!"

With a final smack and a thud the heartless fell to the floor where Vexen immediately froze it.

"Such a rare species... Are you all right Zexion?"

Zexion was not all right. The headache had multiplied and for some reason he couldn't get the stench of darkness out of his nose. It was as if it was streaming out of himself.

"I think..." the room got blurry. "That it was after..." Was he swaying or were the walls moving? "This feather." It was as if his chain of thoughts shattered. Through the darkness he thought he heard Vexen say:

"Holy Heart - it went inside him."

X'ero's voice joined in too, but it became distant and impossible to understand through the darkness.

* * *

><p>Xemnas was not happy. He stared a Saïx trying to figure out if he somehow could blame this on his right hand man.<p>

"And we have no idea if he wakes up again? What about XV, surely she must know what has happen?"

"X'ero was not exactly making sense. She said something about it not being possible because Zexion shouldn't have enough darkness, then she lost me by beginning to ramble about 'echoes' and feathers and I don't know what..." Saïx turned his head to look at X'ero who sat on a chair at Zexion's bedside. "I don't think we are going to get anything useful out of her, she's clearly confused too."

"This is exactly it, Saïx. We cannot afford to lose members like this. We have too many enemies."

Saïx bowed his head. He knew Xemnas was right. But there was nothing they could do now.

"Make sure XV keeps doing her job." Xemnas said. "And inform the others that we'll have a meeting tomorrow. I want everyone attending it..."

"Understood!"

Saïx walked to X'ero.

"He'll wake up." she said as looked at Zexion sleeping form. "I know he will."

"It accomplishes nothing to sit here." Saïx said.

"I know, but..." X'ero pulled her hand through the long side of her hair. "But I don't know what to do. I have no memories of friendship at all, because as Nihil I had no friends. I don't know what I'm supposed to do in this situation. I'm so confused. I only know that every time I have woken up after such a thing Zexion has been here. It is the only guideline I have. If I'm not supposed to wait for him to recover then please tell me what to do."

Saïx looked at X'ero, she really did look confused. He went out of the room for a moment and then returned with a blanket.

"Here," he said and threw the blanket to X'ero. "I'll clear your access to Zexions rooms so you can come and go as you like. As long as you come to your missions and attend the special training I asked you to do, I can't forbid you to do what you like in your free time."

Saïx turned around to walk away, he paused a moment in the door frame.

"Allow me to say something." He said with his back turned to X'ero. He took her silence as consent. "What you are doing now is properly not something someone who is just a friend would do." He walked out without giving her a chance to answer.

* * *

><p>Outside of the room Saïx cursed. How was he supposed to break X'ero's bond to Zexion? If she had been a normal girl it had been possible, but it was as if X'ero had just decided that her and Zexion being friends was a fact, and that was it. Whenever she was in doubt she referred to Zexion.<p>

X'ero's unsentimental approach to everything was a thing he liked about her, but it didn't make it easy to change her opinion.

A chuckle interrupted Saïx's thoughts. It seemed he couldn't be allowed to think in peace today.

"What do you want, Marluxia?"

"I was in the area so I couldn't help but hear your and Xigbar's conversation. So you tried to off Zexion? I can't imagine his happy with that."

"That is absolutely none of your concern."

"Concern – no. Opportunity – yes. I think you are already aware of it, but as long as Xemnas is in control..."

"I do not want to hear the end of that sentence." Saïx said sharply. "Have you forgotten the role of Axel in Oblivion? Do you think that I have nothing to do with that?"

"Oh, let bygones be bygones."

"One: I don't believe you. Two: I have zero respect for you and absolutely no reason to follow you. Three: I won't do _anything _to jeopardize me chance to get my heart back. Now get lost."

"Fine." Marluxia said. "But I'll say one last thing: It's Xemnas fault - Him and the other 'elder' nobodies. They went too far with their research and they paid the price, but we neophytes are innocent. Why should we follow Xemnas? Who's to say that he doesn't lead us to our doom – again? For that matter: Who's to say that Xemnas doesn't want Kingdom Hearts all for himself."

"I said: Get lost, Marluxia!"

"Think about it."

With that Marluxia disappeared.

Saïx shook his head. This was just one of these days it was better to get done and over with.

* * *

><p>Ns: So the next chapters were up. I am trying to upload them in clusters that fits with the story. Hence the reason you got four this time. Also I guess that this chapter is the start of Saïx habit by always brushing X'ero's hair to the side.<p>

Saïx: She could just cut her hair evenly.

Ns: Yes, because that I why you do it.


	23. Chapter 23: Concern

Ns: Here comes the next group of uploads.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 23: Concern <strong>

"Sora..." Naminé said, no more begged. "Please say something. Say anything."

Sora couldn't. All the words he could have said was vanished from his mind. He felt as if he was suddenly isolated, the only one left in the world- in all the worlds. Kairi was... was... he couldn't even think the word.

"I'm so sorry that I can't remember it clearly," Naminé said. "But I met the Nobody of the one that attacked us. See..." Naminé showed Sora her first picture in her new drawing book. "She had this really unusual green hair."

Sora looked at the loosely drawn picture.

He knew that woman. He had seen her in Disney Castle. Without thinking Sora summoned his keyblade. Something was moving within him. Something dark and wrong.

"Sora?"

"I'll go and fight some heartless..."

"Cheer up," Larxene said as she dragged X'ero trough the hallways. "You're no fun to tease when you sulk like that."

* * *

><p>As always when it came to Larxene, X'ero wasn't quite sure how she had gotten into the situation. She had stepped out Zexion's room to attend that meeting Xemnas had summoned and before she knew, Larxene had decided that she apparently was 'sulking' or something. X'ero was not quite sure of the meaning of the word, but she did not appreciate being dragged around by her hood.<p>

"Don't we have a meeting to attend," X'ero asked.

"We'll attend it when you become your normal creepy self," Larxene said. "Why did you come out of Zexion's rooms anyway? Did you spend the night there?"

X'ero hung her head.

"Yes."

Larxene grinned.

"So you two really..."

"Zexion is sick," X'ero interrupted. Larxene immediately let go of her.

"So that's why you sulking."

"Properly," X'ero said. Perhaps she had been more distant than normal lately. She hadn't even felt the need to flash her 'disaster'-smile after Xigbar when he had mocked her this morning.

"You know that's actually a good thing." Larxene suddenly said.

X'ero starred at her.

"Good?" she asked disbelieving. How could Zexion being hurt, be good in any way. It was not good. It was bad and wrong… and just wrong.

"Yes, well. We can't talk about it here, but..."

"I understand." X'ero said. All though she really didn't.

Saïx walked around the corner.

"The meeting is starting in two seconds," he said. "Why are you not there?"

"I could ask you the same." Larxene said.

Saïx's eyes briefly crossed over X'ero's face.

"I was on my way," he said and disappeared through a portal.

"Okay..." Larxene looked at X'ero. "What was that about? If I didn't know better I would say he was checking up on you."

"He properly has some duties in this part of the castle." X'ero shrugged. "I guess he have even less time now since he insist on training me in Nobody control."

"Wait a minute!" Larxene said and stopped X'ero's before she could summon the portal. "You mean Saïx actually is going to train you himself? Are you sure?"

"I assume he wants to deal with it himself. He said that he wanted to spend coming afternoons with me so I could learn the control of lesser Nobodies."

"Did he now?" Larxene adopted a mischievous gleam in her green eyes. "That's actually kind of cute."

Cute? X'ero thought back at the situation and the way Saïx had looked at her. There had been something so intense about him that she hadn't dared to question the order. Cute? Perhaps she simply didn't understand the word.

"We properly have to go to that meeting."

* * *

><p>Xemnas was informing the rest of the Nobodies about the situation in Castle Oblivion, X'ero who already knew about it - and really didn't care, allowed herself to let her thoughts drift.<p>

She had never had it this way before, whenever she wasn't doing something all these 'what if' –question popped into her head. What if Zexion never woke up again? What if he was changed when he woke? What if...

X'ero was unsettled, she couldn't find any rest, and on top of that Saïx's words haunted her too. What did he mean when he said that that was she was doing wasn't something a friend would do? Was it a ruse to shake her alliance with Zexion or had it been an honest advice?

A part of her brain - the same part that had made her isolate herself in Traverse Town, was triumphing. See, it seemed to say, that's what you get for involving yourself with others. Power struggles, betrayals and now this... anxiety. It didn't matter that they were all Nobodies, as long as they wanted their hearts back their human nature wouldn't change. By the very depth of darkness what was she still doing here?

"X'ero!"

X'ero's head shot up with Saïx's strict voice interrupting her thoughts.

"Xemnas asked you a question."

X'ero blinked, she hadn't really been listening.

"Eh..."

Xemnas sighed overly dramatic and shook his head:

"I told you that Zexion before he fell into this unfortunate circumstance had finished writing a report to me about these Light Hounds and the other... keyblade monsters."

That was right, X'ero had forgotten that she had transferred her knowledge about her enemies to Zexion when she had first joined the Organization.

"What I want to know is if Zexion is right. There is about a hundred different species, right?"

X'ero nodded.

"I think so. I have never stopped to count them"

"Then I would like to ask my question again, since these monsters are light-affinities and vaporise into tiny keys when hit, do you think that they could release hearts from heartless too? Zexion wrote that it was a possibility."

X'ero thought about.

"I don't know," she admitted. "But I think it will be hard to check. Heartless flee when those monsters come too close, and I must admit that I have always followed the same strategy, so I... just don't know."

"But given the number of these monsters it would greatly speed up the heart recovery rate if they had the same abilities as the keyblade. If we could get them to do our bidding..."

Good luck with that, X'ero thought to herself.

Xemnas nodded to himself.

"Then it is decided." He said. "We will ignore Castle Oblivion and Nihil for now. She's one woman and can do nothing to the Organization as a whole. Instead we'll focus on making sure that the keyblade master extracts hearts fast and see if these Light Hounds and their likes can be of any use to us." Xemnas paused. "If they can't, we'll have to find a way to destroy them. It's time we begin to thin the ranks of our enemies."

X'ero wanted to roll her eyes, but wisely didn't. Had Xemnas no idea how unrealistic that goal was? At least she was on the make-Sora-work-faster job. That seemed least dangerous. She tried to ignore the part of her brain that whispered that she would have no reason to stay if Xemnas succeeded in weakening the keyblade monsters.

* * *

><p>"Do I really have to learn this?" X'ero complained once more as Saïx took her to the common training grounds. "The rest got the day off, you know."<p>

"I said that we would train your Nobody-control in the afternoons, and I meant it."

"Saïx, you mean everything you say - unless you are sarcastic. Or rude. Or…"

"Did you have a point with that comment?"

"Yes, I _know_ you mean it, I just..." X'ero stopped to find the right words, but she couldn't find them. Saïx was so strongly insistent on this training that X'ero couldn't help to think that he had some kind of ulterior motive.

"X'ero, Nihil can use heartless as well as you and her magic is stronger. You _need_ a weapon she doesn't have."

As usual when her other was mentioned, X'ero almost summoned her gloves by default.

"I guess you have a point." Actually he had a very good point, X'ero just didn't want more power. Lust for power reminded X'ero of Nihil – and she wasn't Nihil.

Saïx turned around to he faced X'ero again.

"I wouldn't want you to fade away on me," he elaborated. "After all if you are not around I would end up on a team with either Xigbar, Larxene or Demyx."

X'ero couldn't help but smile.

"Don't worry I kind of like to exist, so you are stuck on a team with me."

Saïx actually smirked.

"Good," he said and locked eyes with X'ero. "We make a good team, right?"

Since Saïx eyes didn't move, X'ero actually realized that he expected to answer his question.

"Yes." She answered. They had certainly made progress from trying to kill each other.

Saïx looked like he was about to say something a moved a little closer, when they heard footsteps and Larxene walked around the corner.

"X'ero," she quickly said. "Come on, I want to show you something."

"She doesn't have time right now." Saïx said.

"Excuse me, are you named X'ero? I thought not." Larxene quickly stepped in between X'ero and Saïx. "Xemnas said that we had the rest of the day off. So you can't order X'ero to do anything."

"Larxene..." X'ero tried to get a word in.

"Shut up, I'm speaking." Larxene said and spoke to Saix again. "So unless this training is just an excuse for something else, I'm taking X'ero with me."

Saïx's expression didn't betray anything. He just took a step back and starred at X'ero for a long time, almost as if he was expecting something. X'ero in the meantime was utterly confused, but she somehow feared that Larxene had thrown Saïx a challenge and remembering how things had turned out last time Larxene had decided to tease Saïx, X'ero hoped Saïx wouldn't answer challenge.

"Fine, we'll just train two hours extra tomorrow." Saïx said as he disappeared through a portal. X'ero breathed out in relief and turned to Larxene.

"Thank you for that," she said. "I'm really looking forward to extra training tomorrow, _besides_ the usual mission.

"You should thank me," Larxene said. "You're in serious need of a chaperone. Saïx up to something and that something involves you for some reason."

Somehow that didn't surprise X'ero. Up till now she had been grateful that Saïx hadn't tried to use her too much in his war against Zexion, but she wouldn't be surprised if he tried to use her.

Even under those circumstanced X'ero wasn't sure that Larxene was right. Sure Saïx had changed his behaviour a little, but it had just seemed as if he had gotten used to her and accepted her more, and X'ero couldn't see how Saïx intended to harm Zexion by being less of a jerk towards her.

X'ero shook her head.

"I think you're exaggerating, Larxene "

* * *

><p>A single heart floated up in the air from heartless and disappeared, Sora breathed heavily and dismissed the keyblade. There was no more heartless in the area he had been fighting in so he had no choice but to sit down on a stone and rest. He had been crying, he hadn't noticed it during the battle, but now he could feel how his cheeks were wet and sticky.<p>

Kairi was gone, it wasn't fair. Kairi had never done anyone anything. She hadn't even battled truly against the Nobodies, and yet she had been their first target. It wasn't fair - Not Kairi.

Sora summoned his keyblade again.

No, he couldn't really blame the Nobodies. According to Naminé it had been some kind of heartless that had hurt Kairi, but he didn't know the person the heartless had turned into. The clue only he had was the green haired Nobody who properly wouldn't help him, and who was to say that she hadn't controlled her heartless-

In the end what was the difference between the Nobodies and the heartless? The two species caused and equal havoc and this green haired witch was evil.

"It is hard, is it not?" A voice asked and the armoured knight walked towards him. "It is hard to lose something you hold dear to the darkness. However, the one who killed your friend is my responsibility. I'll deal with her."

Sora looked up.

"Who are you?" he asked angry. "And why do you keep giving orders to me?"

The armoured one paused.

"I am no more, and thus I cannot answer your question."

"Are you a Nobody?" That was the only sense Sora could get out of the no more thing.

"...Not really," the knight answered, the armoured helmet turned towards Sora. "Do you truly wish revenge or is it justice you seek?"

Sora thought the question through, it was harder for him to answer it honestly than it should be, but deep down in his heart he felt the answer.

"I want... justice." He said. "I want no more people hurt by the heartless or nobodies or anyone for that matter. I want to laugh again." Right now, the last seemed impossible.

The knight took one step closer and placed a hand on Sora's shoulder.

"I knew you would choose the right thing," the knight said.

Somehow the part of Sora that was Roxas was deeply terrified, sensing that which Sora was too depressed to do: This knight was a dangerous person.

* * *

><p>Ns: Sorry for the long update. This has been a terrible month regarding regularity, but hopefully nothing more can go wrong now and I'll have the next update up in a week.<p>

X'ero: If you say nothing can go wrong, then something will.


	24. Chapter 24: Those who walk in the dark

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters involved in Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 24: Those who walk in the dark<strong>

Children have a certain look in their face when they are up to no good. A certain look of guilt mixed with defiance and curiosity. But in the white haired child's face all that remained of that expression was the defiance - she definitely was up to no good. She titled a small syringe once more to watch a dark liquid slosh around in the small container.

"I'll show them," she mumbled. "I'll show them."

The next thing she remembered was the room blurring, the now empty syringe falling to the floor, followed by her body cringing in pain. She had a vague recollection of a young man's voice shouting something and hasten footstep filling the room. But no sound, no amount of tears could stop the pain surging through her body and small feeling of triumph being born in her heart.

'I told you I could do it!' She thought.

* * *

><p>"You are one crazy woman." Axel said as he watched Nihil commandeer the heartless around. "Aren't you afraid to lose your heart one more time?"<p>

Nihil stopped whatever it was she was doing with the heartless and turned abruptly.

"I never lose." Was the short replay.

"So losing your heart in the first place was on purpose?"

"A minor side effect." Nihil mumbled, looking away briefly. "It's none of your business anyway." She paused for a moment. "That Nobody is she still me? Can I still get that part of my power back that resides in her body and soul? What will really happen if we become one again?"

Axel rubbed the back of his head.

"Look you are asking the wrong person. I only know what happened to Roxas, so I assume the same would happen to you and you other. I just assumed that you are the kind of girl that wants her full power back."

"I am." Nihil admitted. "But I'm also the kind of girl who doesn't like to share her existence with anybody – or anything." She summoned Eraser. "Even if it is to complete this thing, then I'm still not sure I like the thought of depending on someone else - becoming one with them. Especially if that someone is me."

"You have issues, lady." Axel said. Why did he always end up with the crazy ones?

* * *

><p>X'ero yawned. Since Saïx chose to ignore her, she yawned one more time.<p>

"When you said we had to train two hours extra today, I thought you meant in the afternoon not in the morning."

"Do you have to complain?" Saïx asked.

"Yes," X'ero answered. "I'm not a morning person," She looked up at the dark sky above them. "Even if it is never really morning here."

"We wouldn't have to train at this hour if it wasn't for Larxene," Saïx pointed out.

"I'm not in charge of Larxene. "But I guess that I _should_ be grateful, you actually woke me from a bad dream." Behind him Saïx heard X'ero stop walking. "Saïx, you have met her – Nihil, I mean."

"Yes."

"Do you think I'm crazy?"

Saïx froze. He knew enough about girls to recognize a 'do you think I'm too fat'-question.

If he denied her question and said that she was completely normal X'ero would think that he was lying and if he agreed with her he would be lucky if she only sent a double-dark fire straight at him.

"I think that you are...unique."

X'ero disaster-smile immediately crept up on face.

"You did not answer my question."

So much for trying the diplomatic option.

"Honestly..." Saïx looked at X'ero, her green hair, her glowing orange eye, her smile that only rarely spelled something other than misfortune. "I have a hard time picturing you and Nihil as the same. I have known you as you for too long. Besides, compared to Nihil you just seem a lot less... extreme."

X'ero's disaster-smile faded away into a relieved expression. She took two steps forward and grabbed one of Saïx's hands in hers.

"Thank you!" She said, a small but truer smile allowed itself to appear on her face. "You don't what it means to me to hear that from someone who has met us both."

"You are welcome." Saïx had no idea what else to say, he was rarely thanked so honestly.

"All right," X'ero said as she let go of Saïx's hand. "Let's get this training over and done with."

"Do you really think it is going to be that easy?" Saïx asked as X'ero headed towards the training ground. Not unhappy with her sudden burst of enthusiasm. He closed his right hand. Perhaps it was not impossible to sway her after all.

* * *

><p>X'ero had never known someone who could speak so loud with silence as Saïx. He had this way to tower above those he was unhappy with and glare them down. He even managed to do that while they were crouching down behind a fallen pillar, watching a half goat ordering a muscular man around.<p>

"I have already said that it was not on purpose."X'ero whispered.

"..."

"I didn't summon that Darkside on purpose."

"How can you, when we were in a world with nothing but Nobodies, still manage to call a Darkside forth?"

"You said to close my eyes and concentrate on mentally calling out. When I do that it is usually heartless that answer."

"You must not summon through your darkness affinity." Saïx explained, which he had already done repeatedly under their training.

"Easy, for you to say."

"Yes, it is."

She sighed. But at least he was not glaring her down anymore which she preferred when they were on a mission.

"So what happened here?" She asked, she looked up at the night and blinked. Had she just seen a stellar constellation of the keyblade master and his two friends on the night sky?

"According to Demyx an eight headed giant snake attacked the coliseum. But we are not going in there anyway. We are going into the underworld."

"We are going into a hell?" X'ero asked disbelieving.

"No – just the world of the dead. Through the large door there." Saïx pointed.

X'ero still looked at him disbelieving. World of the dead sounded even worse than a hell.

The two succeeded in sneaking through the large and into what appeared to be a large cave of a sort. Considering that they were crossing into the world of the dead, the huge grotto was filled with too many exited people.

"Are people actually happy to die?" X'ero asked.

"No, this is the place that connects Olympus Coliseum and Hades's domain. We need to go through that door over there and pass a giant three headed dog."

X'ero flinched.

"You are kidding, right?"

"Do I ever joke?"

"I guess not, but how are we going to get pass all these people unseen? Teleport?"

Saïx was silent for a moment, thinking their options through.

"I'll rather not go through too many dark corridors. We might attract the keyblade monsters."

X'ero pulled her hood up so it covered her head.

"I guess we'll just try to blend in. Can you become less tall?"

The look Saïx sent her, told her that he was not amused.

It was actually surprisingly easy to sneak through. As far as X'ero could tell from the common gossips floating between the different groups, they were all here for some kind of tournament. This dark and slightly dangerous Coliseum was still popular, at least until the upper world coliseum was repaired. The participants were therefore not the kind of people that found two dark clothed persons especially suspicious. For a moment it actually looked they would be able to make it through unnoticed, when they heard a voice cut through the air.

"The two persons in the black cloaks are participating too."

Both X'ero and Saïx stopped and quickly looked around, but no other fitted their description.

"Can't we just ignore it?" X'ero asked.

Saïx shook his head.

"The reason we arrived during a tournament was in hope of Hades being preoccupied with the tournament. We can't do anything to draw his attention, not unless you want to fight a god of death."

X'ero shook her head. She really didn't want to fight any gods.

Saïx quickly went over to have a little chat with the two mini devils about this whole participate-thing. X'ero in the meantime sighed and leant up against a wall. She pulled her hood down even though she knew her green hair kind of stood out, but if X'ero was going to fight in a tournament she wasn't risking that her hood would limit her vision.

"You are new to the Organization, aren't you?"

The voice was the same as the one who had signed them up. X'ero turned surprised to face a young man she never had seen before in neither her life nor her non-existence. Yet she felt a strange familiarity with him.

"And you are?"

"Strange," the young man said. "I would assume that everyone in the Organization knew me by now." He paused. "I'm Riku."

"_That _Riku?" X'ero asked. Zexion had told her about this guy. Contrary to what he had told the rest of the Organization, Zexion had been fully aware of what had happen to his illusion at Castle Oblivion. This Riku-guy had been mentioned quite a lot, but at least it explained the familiarity. As far as X'ero knew, Riku too had walked the path of darkness.

"Yes, I'm that Riku." He said. "And who are you."

"X'ero."

"So, X'ero, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same."

"I'm stuck here. I fell here when the dark corridor shattered and since I can't make my own anymore, I'm stuck until Sora comes along."

"Why did you enter us in the competition?"

"You looked like you didn't want to enter, so..."

X'ero's disaster-smile crept on.

"So you just entered us. What's your problem?" She asked.

"My problem?" Riku asked back. "You're the bad guys. Whatever you are up to, it can't be good."

X'ero couldn't really say anything to that one. Making the heartless more aggressive in the worlds so that they would attack Sora in larger numbers was not exactly a 'good thing'. Suddenly she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder.

"Stay away from her," Saïx said. His claymore ready.

Unspoken threats were exchange between the two men, but no violence act was taken in the end, even though X'ero could tell from the way Saïx was almost crushing her shoulder that Saïx wanted very much to go berserk in this moment.

Riku turned his back to them.

"See you in the tournament."

"Saïx, could you please let go?" X'ero asked as soon as Riku was out of sight.

"It was not my intention to wound you."

"I know..." X'ero said. "Just think about it when you place your hands on my body. I'm fragile."

The look Saïx gave her, told X'ero that her words were easily misunderstood. First she thought that Saïx was going to scold her but then he leant slightly to the side and whispered into her ear.

"But I like it rough." He was so close that she could actually feel his breath.

"What?" X'ero blinked confused as Saïx put some distance between them again. "Are you mocking me you right now?"

"Perhaps a little," Saïx admitted. "But we have a much more serious problem at hand. The good news is that we will be pitted against the heartless in the preliminary rounds; the bad news is that after the preliminaries it is a fight against the other contestants."

"If there is enough heartless in the preliminaries then perhaps I could make it work as the place with the highest concentration of heartless, then I can just try to dominate them from here, and we can disappear from this world."

Perhaps this whole tournament wasn't such a bad thing after all, X'ero briefly thought.

"I'll like us to take one more fight," Saïx said. "I convinced the little devils to make sure that Riku would be the first one we'll go up against. He is a tough opponent, but with the two of us it should be easy enough."

"I don't like 'should be easy'." X'ero said. "That usually proves to be hard."

* * *

><p>Zexion was lost. That was the best word for it. The last thing he remembered was working in the laboratory and some kind of winged heartless and now he was in what could only be described as a very black castle. The inconsistency between the two facts led Zexion to believe that he was properly dreaming. After all no one in this dark castle seemed to notice him, so it was obvious that he wasn't kidnapped, and when some time had passed the events in the castle repeated themselves in an endless loop.<p>

But even if it was a dream, it seemed that he had to do something in order to wake up, so Zexion sat down on a black couch and tried to analyse his situation. The timeframe of the dream seemed to be approximately 24 hours, the castle was inhabited with people who all seemed busy with what seemed like a rearmament of some kind, the men wore blue cloaks, Zexion didn't know what the woman wore he hadn't seen anyone of the fairer gender who were more than six-seven years old.

That was all Zexion until now had learned, he needed more information, but whatever the purpose of this dream was, had until now eluded him.

"It's properly because of the magic..." The words the voice was formed with were so full of malice that Zexion curiosity was waken, and he got up and followed the two blue robed men, listening in on what could only be described as scandalous gossiping.

"I just don't get why the master would pick her as one of the captains. I mean she's _female_, their sole purpose in life is giving birth."

"Perhaps that's why," the other gossiper explained and paused dramatically before continuing: "She's incapable of that."

"But she's _female_."

Perhaps it was because they were so into to their discussion or perhaps it was because Zexion just was much more aware of his surrounding than them, but Zexion notice what they didn't: A blue robed person less tall and generally slighter of build than the rest of blue robed people stopped in its track – obviously one of the dreaded females that they were discussing.

"She removed the birth-giving ability herself, you now?" One of the gossipers suddenly said.

The petite blue-robe immediately stopped reading in the book she (Zexion was sure it was a she) was carrying. The green bird on her shoulder flapped its wing in anger. Silently she began to sneak up on the two men.

"How did she do that?"

"It was in the ninth year - you know the final year the girls have to go to school before they return to the other females and learn about their duties..."

"I know that."

"Well, instead attending her exam she snuck into the poison room and ingested a potent poison straight into... you now that thing woman have inside them."

"She's crazy!" By this point in the conversation, the woman had snuck up on the gossipers.

"Yep, she would have died if that genius student hadn't come by."

"He saved her?"

"Accidently – He had been experimenting with extracting other peoples magic spell to make them more concentrated and powerful, so since he had a dying person on his hand he thought he might as well see the effects such magic's would have on the human body and he led them straight into the girls heart. Even though her heart had stopped the magic forced it to keep beating, and so she lived."

"You know what: She's not female then, she's a monster."

It was at this point both men noticed their audience. It was hard to miss her since an destructive aura of magical energy seemed to surround her body and the bird were basking its wings in the air.

"Lady Nihil!" The both said surprise.

"I didn't mean to call you a monster."

"Of course you didn't."

Zexion could imagine the smile the girl wore under the hood.

"Carry my book," The girl said and forced her book on the man who had called her a monster.

"Of course, Lady."

"Useless!" The bird on her shoulder suddenly screamed.

"Your right!" The girl nodded. "The pentagrams in that book really are useless." She pointed her pointer finger and middle finger at the man with her books.

"Dark-fire!"

The man screamed as he suddenly was covered in blue flames.

"You can't do that!" His friend shouted. "It's murder."

The girl pointed at him.

"Then I better leave no witnesses."

"Dark-thunder!"

Zexion saw a blue beam aim straight at the man, but he never saw it connect. The scenery suddenly froze. Before it shattered and he was standing on a grass lawn.

"I wonder why I should see that?" He asked for himself. That had to be a reason since the dream hadn't stopped until he had found the scene, but before he could ponder the answer any deeper he noticed how he was sinking into the lawn.

It was first now he looked at properly at the grass and noticed that the green colour was too emerald to be grass – not to mention: felt too ticklish. It was feathers, a far less substantial foundation than a lawn. Zexion jumped up using the glide ability, it lifted him up from the feathers, but since it wasn't a constant flying ability he fell down again and started sinking once more.

Glide, sink, glide, sink...

Zexion didn't know what this dream he was trapped in was all about, but it had undeniable turned into a nightmare.

* * *

><p>The preliminaries were easy and actually allowed them to complete the mission, but unfortunately X'ero was partnered with Saïx who was ambitious enough to do extra work if he could earn him some credit. Saïx knew that X'ero didn't approve, but he simply couldn't allow one more enemy to slip out of his grasp. He would never be able to explain to Xemnas why they had let Riku escape, unless he or X'ero was seriously hurt, besides with X'ero guarding his back, even Riku shouldn't be too hard to beat.<p>

Saïx looked at X'ero. She was seemingly concentrated on watching the fight in the arena, but the way her fingers tapped against the wall, told Saïx that X'ero was nervous and unhappy with the situation.

He placed his hands over hers.

"Whatever it is Zexion has said about Riku, I'm sure it was exaggerated."

"Zexion is very good at judging opponents - He never over- or underestimates anything. But it is not that it those two." X'ero pointed at Hades two lackeys. "I think they are up two something."

"Are you not a little paranoid?"

"No," X'ero said. "I grew up in a world where backstabbing and scheming were the normal way to communicate. Something is up."

"I promise that we retreat as soon as we have dealt with Riku."

"I hope that will be soon enough..." X'ero began when Saïx signalled her to be silent.

"Hades!" He said and pointed towards the newcomer who had suddenly turned up in the middle of the arena.

"Are all gods on fire?" X'ero asked.

"Welcome, Welcome." Hades said. "You are all capable warriors, so capable that you'll help me take help me take over Olympus and get rid of that Freak-cules." With the last word Hades flames turned red. "No need to thank me for this fantastic opportunity. There is just _one _catch: You all have to be DEAD."

"Perhaps we _should_ retreat." Saïx said to X'ero, but when he looked at her he discovered that she was frozen in place, looking up. She was not the only one, all around him people stopped moving. Saïx too glanced up in the air.

Yellow and grey balloons of metal were silently floating over their heads. The only thing human on them were the big mouths. Saïx would never in his life admit that he was intimidated by balloons, but if he remembered the descriptions of the different types of 'keyblade monster' that Xemnas had handed him correctly, then these things were bad news.

The balloon over him began to swell up, it looked close to bursting so Saïx quickly grabbed X'ero with one hand, opened a portal with another and threw her through it, but before he could jump through himself he heard a low but unmistakable popping sound right about his head and he was surround behind invisible cold air.

* * *

><p>When the competitors had realized what happen they had started fighting back and the underground arena was now as much in shambles as the Olympic one. A black portal opened in this desolated place and green haired witch stepped through, cursing herself for falling for such an obvious trick.<p>

X'ero looked around. Hades hadn't killed everyone had he? It couldn't be...

"What happened?"

X'ero turned around and saw the last person she wanted to see right now. Riku alongside the muscular man she had seen talking to the half-goat.

"Why are you still here?" She asked.

"I went to get Hercules," Riku said and looked at the man beside him. "His demigod aura is needed to truly defeat Hades." Riku looked around. "I went as soon as I saw Hades, but it still looked like I was too late."

"The monster Hades used..." X'ero began. "The masters of these monsters, they would never kill the innocent."

X'ero tried desperately not to think about Traverse Town. They wouldn't…

"Are you sure?" Riku asked.

X'ero thought for a moment:

"Perhaps they made some sort of deal with Hades." X'ero's hand fisted. "I can imagine the masters as the type who thinks they have the right to pass judgments on people. You know: Who has the right to live and who has the right to die."

"Then we are running on time." Riku said and looked to Hercules. Both men nodded and began to walk to one of the large doors that would let them descend deeper into the world of death.

"Wait!" X'ero shouted. "I'm coming with you."

"Why?" Riku asked the suspicion he felt now visible in his face.

"Saïx might have been taken too." X'ero explained. "If Hades found out that Saïx technically doesn't have a life to lose it might be bad."

Riku's drilled his blue eyes into X'ero, looking from something in the visible half of her face that X'ero didn't know what was. Then he nodded:

"All right, but don't double cross us!"

* * *

><p>Ns: I just played Chain of Memories through again on my ds (It can play GBA too) and I just realized that Axel calls Zexion for 'Zexy'. Now I'm really confused about how to pronounce Zexion name, because I have always pronouce the Z sort of as S inside my head, but that can't be... It is just wrong.<p>

Zexion: I hope you didn't knock me out because you is confused about the pronunciation of my name.

Ns: Of course not.


	25. Chapter 25: Evil

NS: Final chapter today.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 25: Evil<strong>

Saïx slammed a fisted hand against the barrier in exactly the same height as the armoured female head was. The barrier shook slightly with the contact, which meant it was easy enough to break the barrier down by brute force. Saïx looked up in the air at the balloons floating near the cave ceiling. It didn't help much that the barrier was weak if he was paralyzed as soon as he took the first step outside of it.

"You must be one of the masters," he said to the female knight. "It has _not_ been an exquisite pleasure to finally meet you."

"If my presence bothers you, you can always flee through one the dark corridor."

So she could follow after him into their castle? He was not that stupid. Saïx was pretty sure letting any of the keyblade monsters inside their world was and one way ticket to becoming a Dusk.

"Being paralyzed, dragged deeper into an underworld and imprisoned with a bunch of losers are what bothers me." Saïx stated. "What have I ever done to you?"

"She will come for you and she will negotiate for you."

"X'ero?" Saïx asked. "What do you mean negotiate? If you think X'ero will risk herself for me then you are less intelligent than I thought."

"She _will_ come and she _will_ negotiate. The one you call X'ero, her true nature has been released upon the worlds, it is no longer enough to simply defeat your partner. We need to know the location of the other half of Eraser before the Dark Lady tracks it down. X'ero is the only one who knows so we need to negotiate with her."

"Eraser is the keyblade Nihil wields, right?"

"Yes, but the Dark Lady's keyblade have never been complete because she is not qualified to wield the keyblade." The armoured head turned to Saïx with a creaking sound. "You do not know where it is, do you? We know that X'ero does not have it, but she _must _know where it is."

"And you think that makes it all right?" Saïx asked. "Your need to ask X'ero justifies imprisoning me and all the other combatants. And let's not forget the part where you sold us all out to Hades."

"You cannot psych me out. I support my friends. I cannot change that."

"So if he hurts innocent then it is justified because he is your friend?"

"I support my friends. I cannot change that."

The words sounded wrong, hollow and forced as if she really didn't have a choice but to follow the words of her 'friend'. Yet she didn't seem like a person who would support a case she didn't believe in.

"What are you?" Saïx asked. "A more advanced form of the keyblade monsters? A Nobody? A heartless?"

"I support my friends."

"That's not an answer!"

Saïx hammered his hand against the barrier separating them one more. It shook more vibrantly than the first time and a small crack appeared.

The knight backed away a little, but did not stop watching him. Saïx clearly got the message that the conversation was over. He turned around while he tried to clear his thoughts and figure out was his next move should be.

Then he noticed all the other prisoners watching him, they had properly listen in on the conversation too. Saïx crossed his arms over his chest and were about to tell them to go and mind their own business when he realized that they all had to be somewhat capable fighters to make it through the preliminaries.

Saïx uncrossed his arms. Perhaps they were not entirely useless.

* * *

><p>The fog filling the underground was floating so high up in the air that it usually wasn't too much of a bother, but this day was different: The dense fog had leaked downwards covering the ground area as well making it so impossible to see and the fog was therefore also to blame for the fact that Riku didn't notice that the third member of their little group was missing. It was first when they fought a group of heartless without a single spell being cast, that it got his attention.<p>

"Where's the girl?" Riku asked at first, but he quickly assumed the worst when he saw no sign of green hair in any direction. "So she had already betrayed us -or simply given up."

He sighed. Perhaps he was just bad at judging people.

"I'm not sure." Hercules said. "I'm pretty sure she was with us three minutes ago. Perhaps she's hurt."

Being the heroes leaving a potential wounded person behind wasn't an option, so they backtracked.

They found X'ero sitting on stone, unharmed.

She looked at the two men as they came into sight.

"All ready back?"

"Say something if you fall behind." Riku demanded. "I was worried."

X'ero looked puzzled by his words but chose to ignore them, instead she clapped the rock she sat on with a gloved hand:

"We have walked by this rock at least three times already."

"So we are walking in circles?" Riku asked.

X'ero nodded.

"I have never been to this specific area of the underworld before." Hercules admitted.

"So we are lost," Riku stated. "This is not good. We don't know how much time we have."

"Not enough." X'ero said. "Time is always running out."

Riku looked interested at X'ero.

"Is the negative attitude something that comes from losing your heart or from tingling with the darkness?"

"It's innate." X'ero said, her disaster-smile immediately showing. She's was about to ask how Riku could tell her affinity when she remembered that Riku too once had walked on a dark path.

"Might I ask you something?" X'ero hesitated as they started walking again. She wasn't sure if she should ask. _She_ would personally find such a question noisy, but she couldn't fight her professional curiosity. "Zexion told me that you wield darkness - at least used too. Why did you seek that it out?"

Riku didn't answer her at first and X'ero thought that she might had offended him, but then he threw her question right back at her.

"Why did _you_ do it?"

"I was a crazy power-hungry witch. Besides it wasn't unusual where I was from and no one was really surprised that I chose that path so..." X'ero shrugged. "I guess I followed the true desire of my heart." She snorted. "Just goes to show how a pathetic thing it was."

Riku heard the bitterness that permeated her voice without X'ero herself being aware of it. He didn't say anything about it.

"I sought power too." Riku said. "I thought it was to save a friend, but... there was also some rivalry and jealousy involved. Do you think that the 'why' of it really makes a difference?"

"No." X'ero admitted. "I guess that it is how you use your power that is important – Not that I care about stuff like that anymore. I just wanted to know another the motivation of another person to see..."

To see if she had been so little human in her heart as the rest of the people of her world had claimed. X'ero mentally scolded herself: That question was no longer relevant!

"You're different than I imagined." Riku suddenly said out in the blue.

"How?"

"Well you're a... more decent person than I thought you would be"

Riku stopped his speech as they crossed by the infamous rock a fourth time.

"This is a trap." He stated. "Even if we are lost and are wandering around in circles it is unnatural to return to the same place so quickly."

"I agree." X'ero looked at the rock. "This thing has to be the key, but it looks so ordinary."

"Let me try." Hercules bowed down and placed his hands on each side of the rock, but no matter how much he tried to heave it up from the ground the rock didn't budge.

X'ero summoned her gloves.

"Move!" She said as she clasped her hands together. "Double dark-fire."

The huge blue fireball collided with the stone and the air was for a moment filled with dust instead of fog, but when everything had calmed down the stone still stood there – mockingly unharmed.

"I guess we can conclude that neither magic nor force works." X'ero said. She tugged at the long side of her hair. "I'm open to suggestion."

Riku crossed his arms.

"I have been wondering about this." He explained. "Do you feel that you powers are limited in some way?"

"My powers?" X'ero shook her head. "No, I don't think so. Why?"

"Because I don't feel the effect of the curse, and that worries me."

Saïx hadn't told X'ero anything about curses, and X'ero regarded herself as such a good witch that she should be able to tell if she was cursed or not.

"I'll try to go into a limit break." X'ero said.

"Isn't that a last resort?" Riku asked.

"We don't have time to be going in any more circles." X'ero said. "I have to do something."

X'ero closed her eyes and tried to concentrate, but it was hard for her to focus. Her the limit break was tied to her mental state and her recent break down made her uneasy about applying any sort of pressure to her psyche.

What if she lost it again? What if she had a mental melt down in front of Riku - an enemy? For some kind of reason X'ero thought of Saïx. She could easily imagine him glaring her down: 'I have expected more of you.'

X'ero smiled for herself. He would definitely say something like that. Then it was decided. X'ero reached into her mind, to the part where the darkness seeped out from her memories. This time there was no irritating cat talking in riddles while she was pressed for time, so X'ero had to do it herself.

X'ero took a deep breath and finally allowed to let go of a little of her self control – just enough to allow a little more of her darkness to flow through her body. The effect was immediate. Unable to contain the powers in her gloves, X'ero allowed the gloves to burst into the black feathers. With her now red eye X'ero scanned the area.

A cold and draining magical energy was spreading from the rock and into the fog.

"That _is_ a curse." X'ero confirmed as she looked around. "The stone is acting as the center of it. If we go left or right or try to jump over the stone the fog will turn us around. We can only go back."

"To keep Hercules out until Hades is ready." Riku said.

X'ero nodded:

"Properly – but I should be able to get us through."

"How?" Riku asked.

X'ero chose to answer his question by action. The black feathers circling around her arms spread out and encircled the other two. Even though it was a curse cast by a god that affected the area, the echo feathers should be able to cancel the magic.

"We should hurry. I can't keep this up forever."

Riku nodded.

The fog was thick and even without being turned around it was hard to find the way through. X'ero began to fear that they would not make it through before her stamina ran out, but eventually the group heard the sound of running water. The fog thinned out and they arrived at a riverbank.

X'ero cancelled her limit break right away and leant up against the cave wall to prevent herself from dropping to her knees. Riku glanced her way, but didn't say anything which she appreciated. Then again, Riku properly understood too well that any power lent from the darkness came with a price, and becoming tired was properly the lowest price she could pay.

"Is this the river Styx," Riku asked.

"No I think it is Lethe. The river the dead drinks from to forget their former life." Hercules explained. "But this is something Phil told me about, I have never been this deep down before."

"Let's not drink from it in any case." X'ero commented from her spot at the wall. She was not fond of her memories of her former life, but she still preferred to have them.

A loud thunderous sound suddenly shook the cave walls on the opposite riverbank.

"What was that?" X'ero asked.

"It came from that passage." Riku said and pointed to a dark narrow corridor.

X'ero looked left and right to see find a bridge, but there was none in sight and the river was too wide for any of them to jump over.

"It is unwise to swim in this water, but we need to get over." Riku concluded. He looked at Hercules who nodded. Before X'ero could give her opinion Hercules lifted her up.

"Wha...!"

X'ero was suddenly flying through the air and landed ungraceful on her butt on the other riverbank.

"Ow! You could have asked me." She complained as Riku landed beside her – a lot more graceful on his feet.

"We got over, didn't we?" Riku said as he helped X'ero to her feet. Then he turned around to speak to Hercules. "We'll stall Hades. Find a way over!"

"We better hurry," X'ero said impatiently. "That sound can't be a good thing."

* * *

><p>Riku and X'ero arrived at a battle scene. Humans (Who X'ero recognized from the preliminaries) were trying to hold their ground against the keyblade monsters. There were the irritating dogs, but also some plants that looked like yellow four-leafs clovers of metal and of course the balloons in the air. Light beams were shooting left and right, roots were coming out of the walls trying to entangle those that came too close.<p>

"What are these?" Riku asked.

X'ero didn't answer. She was busy searching through the mess.

"He's there." Riku pointed.

Saïx was in the farthest end of the cave, crouch down behind the rubble left from a cave in. Two others of the combatants were there with him. They were clearly talking, but there was too much noise for X'ero to hear what they were saying. She noticed Saïx keep glancing upwards and suddenly he lifted his hand up.

"Aeroga!"

The spell was activated from five or six different person and even though none of them were as strong as X'ero in spell casting the sheer number of casters was enough shake the room and blow every one of their feet. Saïx signalled a group of fighter and they quickly ran to the cave in were Saïx was positioned.

Riku grabbed X'ero's arm.

"Now is our chance!"

He dashed through the room while dragging X'ero with him. When they were about half way through the dissolved keyblade monster had been reassemble and Riku had to let go of X'ero to block a light beam in the last second.

"Reflectoga!"

X'ero too had her guard up in the last second. Something cold and hard wrapped itself around her legs, she looked down in time to see some roots creeping up at her legs like evil ivy. She quickly put them on fire and then she had to duck as another beam shot through the air.

X'ero looked upwards. Hovering in the air above them the balloons had swollen so much up that they were close to popping. This weren't good. If they were paralyzed in the middle of the battlefield they were doomed. Closer this time, X'ero heard Saïx's voice shout over the battlefield and from the corner of her eyes she saw him lift his hand again:

"Aeroga!"

The area was once more filled with the magical wind attack, and even with her high magical resistance X'ero actually lost her balance. X'ero quickly jumped to her feet and saw that all the monsters had temporarily dissolved into the tiny keys. She followed closer behind Riku to the cave in.

"Quickly!" Riku said as he gave X'ero a helping hand in climbing over the rubble. As soon as X'ero was over he leapt over the rubble himself just in time to avoid another beam.

"X'ero!" Saïx said as he noticed her. "It is good to see you here... Is that _Riku _with you?"

X'ero fumbled with the long side of her hair.

"Hopefully you didn't expect me to travel through a world of the dead alone, did you?"

Saïx shook his head, but in a short second X'ero thought she saw a hint of a smirk on his lips.

"You never change."Saïx said and turned to one of the human beside him. "Is everyone here now?"

"All who is still alive and in a moveable condition."

"Then we retreat."

"Retreat where?" X'ero asked.

Saïx pointed to a hole in the rubble that some of his allies were beginning to crawl through.

"When we broke the barrier down the knight retreated upstairs. She broke the cave wall so we couldn't follow her and then proceeded to summon the monster from the other entrance so we decided up to split up in two teams. One team kept our 'friends' here busy while the rest of us dug our way through." Saix quickly glanced over the barricade. "They are reassembling." He said. "Get out of here now."

The hole they had dug was narrow and dark, X'ero coughed as the dust irritated her lungs. As the third last she crawled through to the other side closely followed by Riku. Saïx's height made it hard for him to fit through, but he too managed to escape. As soon as he was out, he summoned his claymore and lifted it.

"Wait!" Riku said. "I'm not leaving anyone behind."

"The only one left out there is the one who as stopped breathing." Saïx coldly claimed. "Out of my way!"

"Can you prove that they are dead?"

"No! Move or crawl back!"

Riku showed no intention of doing so. X'ero quickly jumped between them.

"Can we please postpone this ridicules fight? This is not the time nor the place. You just have to trust Saïx when he says that all the survivors are here. It is not always possible to save everything."

Riku hesitated.

"It's better to save something than saving nothing." X'ero pleaded.

"Typical moral of a Nobody." Riky said, but he finally stepped aside.

Saïx struck the rubble with the hilt of his claymore right above the hole and the small tunnel collapsed with a crumbling sound.

It appeared that not even the plants could dig their way through and with a moments break from the fighting Saïx pulled X'ero aside.

"They will take some time to dig the way through that." He whispered. "We should open a corridor and hurry back before..."

"Excuse me," it was one of the persons Saïx had fought with. "But what is our next move?"

"Are you asking me?" Saïx asked surprised.

The other shrugged:

"You were the one who took control of the situation. We just assumed that you were our leader right now."

"...We don't have much other choice, but to follow the stairs upward. Be sure to be alerted there may be others traps waiting for us."

The man nodded and ran to the other survivors to pass the message on. X'ero looked at Saïx. He showed no expression as usual, but in the way he almost unnoticeable straightened his back and held his head little higher it was clear that he was a little pleased with the situation - Pride, it was something X'ero had never understood.

"Do you want to see this through?" X'ero asked.

"...This is not our mission." Saïx answered. X'ero wanted to roll her eyes. That was not an answer to her question.

"_I_ would like to see it through." X'ero said. "I want to find out why they are targeting me in this weird way."

"They want to _negotiate_." Saïx almost spit the last word out.

"Then I have to go." X'ero said. "If I can stop them chasing me..."  
>"I seriously doubt that." Saïx said. "But we'll go." He sounded pleased with their decision.<p>

The stairs seemed unending and long, they were narrow and didn't seem to have been used in a long time. This frustrating situation didn't help to make X'ero less tired. She rubbed her eyes and tried to hide a yawn, but Riku noticed it.

"Are you all right?" He asked.

"I'm fine."

"If you say so..." He didn't sound like he believed her. "What were those monsters?"

"I think we have sort of named them keyblade monsters. They are very dangerous."

"I noticed."

"They will properly come for you too." X'ero bluntly said. "Because of your past with darkness."

"But I'm no longer..."

"That doesn't matter...besides that not the truth." X'ero summoned her gloves. "You are no Princess of the Heart so you don't have a pure heart. You have gained the knowledge of how to wield darkness, so if you really wanted to you wouldn't be stuck here. Look at me. I no longer have a heart, but the darkness of my original self still resides in my memories and refuses to release its grip on me."

"I see."

"Hey, there's a door in the ceiling." One of the persons walking in the front said.

"We might as well open it," Saïx said.

The good thing was that the door proved to be a hidden short cut back up to the arena - unfortunately was Hades waiting for them.

"It's not nice to leave when you are being told to die." Hades said.

"We are going to disappoint you there." Riku said. "We'll beat you right here and now."

"How? You lost something?"

Riku and X'ero looked at each other as they both realized that had forgotten Hercules down in the underworld. .

"Spread out and circle around him," Saix commanded. "Don't let him take everyone out at once, and if you see the chance to escape to the Olympic Coliseum then take it. Don't be heroes."

"Wait!" The new voice was feminine and all too familiar to X'ero.

"You..." X'ero said as the female knight appeared. "Do you really wish to negotiate?"

"Where is Eraser?" The knight asked. "Your half. Tell and I'll let you and the rest go for this time."

"But I don't know it." X'ero truthfully answered. "I lend it out. He lost it. End of story."

"You do not lose a keyblade." The knight claimed.

X'ero froze and glanced at Saïx, but he showed not surprise of the fact that X'ero was associated with a keyblade. X'ero couldn't shed the dreadful thought that Saïx already knew.

"It backfired." X'ero shrugged. "You guys really have a bad memory, you were there!"

As soon as the words passed over her lips X'ero saw what she had been too blind to see before. The whole situation, the hostages, the deal with Hades, all the death following where ever these knights went.

X'ero or rather Niil had only encountered the persons beneath the amours briefly, but that encounter had been enough to tell her that they would never do such terrible things. Unlike X'ero they were good persons – Heroes. This was not them. Whatever it was that filled these amour it was not living human beings.

"Eraser was always unstable... When everything collapsed, I saw it dissolve. It literally melted into him."

"Melted?"

"Yes. So it is lost. You have nothing to fear. Nihil won't get the whole blade."

"I see. Then our deal is on. I'll let you escape."

X'ero was rather surprised that the knight believed her - just like that. Unfortunately Hades wasn't about to let them off the hook that easily.

"Ah ah..." Hades said. "We had a deal. I get everyone, but the green haired. I want these warriors dead so I can take over Olympus."

The armoured knight turned around and looked Hades.

"Our deal is off. I have what I wanted."

"Ha ha... Little girl, that just means that you are fair game as well."

"Wrong answer Hades."

A slight rumble came from the corner of the arena, and the floor was soon overrun by the Light Hounds.

The dogs had soon surrounded Hades. They charged up abd began to shoot theirs light beam at Hades.

Saïx wasn't late to react. In silence he signalled the other warriors to run for the stair that would lead them to their freedom while Hades was preoccupied.

"Come!" He said to X'ero. She shook her head.

"No!" She said. "I want to see how this end. I want to see if these... things are strong enough to take out a god."

"Yes," Rikun agreed. "I want to see that too."

Saïx said nothing, but he didn't leave.

"Do you really think that you can defeat me?" Hades laughed at first, but his laughter began to fade as the beams were kept constantly on him.

"What is this... no!"

The impossible happened Hades actually began sounding weaker, but then the god charged up in anger, getting redder and redder in anger. He engulfed the dogs in flames.

It was a grotesque scene Hades constantly being pierced by light beams and the metal of the dogs attaining the same scorching red as Hades had as they began to overheat.

X'ero was the first to see the danger and she did the most sensible thing she could think of and hid behind Saïx. He didn't pay attention to her but had his claymore up in a blocking position. Riku too had his guard up.

Then the blast came as the overheating dog exploded. The sound was deafening and the room was filled with a blinding warm white light for a second.

When the explosion was over all there was left was silence. No Hades, no Light Hounds and no knight. But secretly, despite their differences, the three warriors that stood left in the underground arena all thought the same: The explosion hadn't killed anyone off, which meant that the keyblade monsters could compete with a god in strength.

Saïx looked sternly at X'ero over his shoulder:

"I'm not a shield." He pointed out.

For some kind of strange reason that sentence lifted the mood in the room.

* * *

><p>It was a good thing that the rest of the warriors had managed to escape up to the Olympic Coliseum, but they were all curious as to what had happen in the underground coliseum and bombarded Saïx with question. Riku took the opportunity to pull X'ero aside and ask her some question.<p>

"I need to go back down and find Hercules." He started. "But I have to ask. Why is anything relating to keyblades so... evil?"

"... I don't think they are evil." X'ero honestly answered. "They are just single minded."

"Single minded?"

"There is a constant war in the heart of you humans. A war between light and dark, good and evil. That war... you can call it a war of morality... that war never ends in normal human's hearts, but in the heart of these 'keyblade' monsters – in their heart the war has ended and the light has won."

"And that is not a good thing?"

"...Only one of the seven Princesses of the Heart has the strength to carry such a purity. All other people... their heart collapse and I think the keyblade monsters is the result."

"But how does that happen? How does a person who is _not_ a Princess of Light become so pure?"

"They don't... it was an accident that happen to my world. _I _was lucky to be a Nobody." X'ero smiled her disaster-smile. "The ironic thing is that I'm not sure it would have affected my original self, even if I had had my heart at the time it was already so corrupted by darkness that there was no light left in it."

"You are wrong. Nobodies are shell – a weak reflection of their former self. You are a decent person X'ero so you original self can't be _that_ bad."

"Funny hearing that from you, considering that it was my other that...Mmmpf!"

Saïx had somehow succeeded in creeping up from behind and silence X'ero by placing his large hand over her mouth:

"That classified information, X'ero."

Riku sighed:

"I'm guessing that I won't get any more out of you two." He turned around and began walking back towards the underground. Before he disappeared behind the large doors he waved to X'ero.

"Watch out for yourself in that group, all right? Nobody else in the Organization will."

With that Riku was gone and Saïx found it safe to allow X'ero to speak again.

"What was that for?"

"I would have been very unwise of you to tell Riku that it was your heartless that killed Kairi."

"Why?"

Saïx seemed uncomfortable with discussing the subject with X'ero, and he answered her question with another question.

"How would you react if I succeeded in removing Zexion from my path?"

X'ero looked confused as Saïx.

"You won't." She simply said.

Saïx narrowed his eyes at her.

"Good to know I'm respected," he said sarcastically. "Just try to imagine that someone makes Zexion fade."

"I can't..." X'ero said after a few seconds. "Zexion is the first person to... matter to me. I can't imagine him not being there."

"Then I cannot explain it to you." Saïx opened a portal. "It is time to go back."

As X'ero took the first step into the portal Saïx stopped her.

"Out of curiosity: Since you seem to think that it is impossible that Zexion lose. That must mean you assume that he will be able to extract revenge on me?"

"I guess so..." X'ero had gotten so used to being in the Organisation that she had stopped thinking deeper over it. She had just taken the hostility between Zexion and Saïx as a part of everyday 'life' in the Organization and had never really thought about that eventually that everyday situation would one day come to an end.

"How will you react then?" Saïx asked. "_If_ Zexion succeeds..."

X'ero didn't answer. She had no idea what to say.

* * *

><p>Ns: And here it is. I'm never writing such a long chapter again - or so I said. The truth is there is much longer chapters in the fic now.<p>

X'ero:...

Ns: What's wrong?

X'ero:I don't want to answer that question. It's not my problem.

Ns:If you say so... Any way. Things a back to normal again, so I should be able to have the next chapter up in a week. Which much mean... next Thursday.

Saïx: As if you can keep a deadline.

Zexion: For once I agree.

Ns: The next bunch will be up in a week.


	26. Chapter 26:Intimacy

Ns: I won't be able to upload next week since I am on a holiday in a beach house with no net. So it can potentially be two week to the next update.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 26: Intimacy<strong>

"HELL NO!"

Larxene slammed both her hands into Demyx's table. Her body charged up with electrical energy as she glared angry at everyone moving in the room.

Both Demyx and X'ero found it wisest to hastily move to the opposite site of the room. However the cause of this, Marluxia, stood steadfast on his spot and took the full blow of the storm.

"Larxene," he said calmly. "It's the best option."

"I don't give a damn!" Larxene shouted. "I'm not stupid enough to be double crossed twice."

"It's not the same, Larxene."

"No it's more stupid than usual! And that's saying a lot!"

"Calm down!" Marluxia said. "Listen I understand your frustration, but we need Saïx's cooperation for my plan to succeed."

"Why don't we just write Xemnas a nice letter where we explain our plan in details?" Larxene asked. "It will have same effect."

"I'm inclined to side with Larxene on this one." X'ero said. "Saïx would go straight to Xemnas."

And he would involve Zexion too, she thought.

"I have my reasons to believe he won't." Marluxia said. "Or rather that he has already tried it and failed." Marluxia shook his head at the skeptical expression on the faces of his allies. "Hear my plan before you judge."

The flower user made two rings of rose petals on the table, six in the inner ring and six in outer ring.

"This is our current organization structure. Our goal is to remove Xemnas…" Marluxia removed one of the pink petals from the inner circle. "In order to do that efficiently we need a keyblade – more precisely the keybkade of X'ero's other."

"Fake keyblade." X'ero corrected.

"You promised that I would be able to use it." Marluxia said. "I assume, however, that those skills don't come with the blade."

"You'll properly need a day or two to adjust." X'ero said with shrug.

"Which we don't have if they find out what we are up to something. How would you propose that we seek your other out and convince her to part we her weapon without the rest of the Organization finds out?"

"I take it that you have a plan."

Marluxia removed the whole outer circle of rose petals with a dramatic swoop.

"W… wait a moment." Demyx said. "Wasn't that circle supposed to be us?"

Marluxia smiled.

"Precisely – if Larxene and I are involved in something it seems suspicious be default, but if all neophytes were 'kidnapped' by Nihil, it would just seem like and organized - if not a little extreme - attack on the Organization."

"You want me to use heartless…" X'ero stated as she catch on. "Nihil uses heartless too, so it would seem like her. Perhaps we could use a Darkside, when it slams its hand down and summons shadows it creates a pool of darkness. If we open a portal to a dark corridor in the ground, we could make it seem like we gets sucked in."

"Exactly!"

"Aren't you two forgetting Luxord and Saïx." Larxene asked. "How do you plan to 'kidnap' them?"

Marluxia waved his hand in the air.

"Luxord is no problem, he would never suspect anything from Demyx side - we will figure some way."

Demyx didn't look happy with the sound of that. Not just did he actually have work for it, he had to do something dangerous too, but there was no way he dared to stand up to Marluxia, Larxene and X'ero -they were three of meanest person in the Organization.

"But the plan still fails with Saïx. He knows my abilities too well." X'ero said. "And this plan requires that I visit three different worlds and summon heartless without Xigbar, Xaldin or Luxord discovers me. Saïx _will _find out."

"Then the plan sucks!" Larxene crossed arms.

"I agree!" X'ero said.

"You two don't understand." Marluxia said. "X'ero, you said that you would not stand for any plan that would endanger Zexion. He's out cold right now, and cannot be involved no matter what happens. You won't get a better chance to keep him out of this than this…"

X'ero bowed her head in defeat. She didn't like to admit it, but Marluia had a point.

Marluxia turned his attention to Larxene.

"Our target has chosen to hide herself in Castle Oblivion. We _know _that place, Larxene. We won't get a better chance to corner her than this. Our chance is now. We have to take it!"

_Swoosh_, Larxene's knives flew through the air and pierced the remaining rose petals to the table.

"I don't care! Saix was in on Axel's betrayal; I would rather rip his spine out and strangle him with it than ask for his assistance."

Larxene's green eyes were as piercing as her knives, no one in the room doubted that she meant every words.

"Larxene…" Marluxia said. "I would rather not do this: You have been my closest accomplices all along, but I _am_ the boss of this group. I have no use for you if you won't follow my order."

Larxene charged up, both X'ero and Demyx feared in that that the two accomplices would begin to fight, but the electrical ions suddenly vanish from the air again.

"Whatever," Larxene said as she turned around. "You better watch your back in the future, _boss_."

Marluxia just stood there silent as Larxene disappeared. Then he turned to X'ero.

"You know what you have to do." He said coldly as he too disappeared.

X'ero had no idea, what the actual relationship between Marluxia and Larxene was, but even she could sense that something had changed between the two of them – and not for the better.

"Uh… They will be good friends again, right?" Demyx asked. He looked scared at X'ero. "Because they will be really evil and scary if they are arguing."

"I don't know…" X'ero said as she shrugged. "This is not really my area of expertise."

* * *

><p>His bare finger brushed her cheek as he reached up and tugged the long side of her hair behind her ear.<p>

"There!" Saïx said with a slight hint of annoyance in his tone. "Perhaps now you can actually _see_ what you are doing."

"I can see just fine." X'ero mumbled.

"Really? You seem to have a hard time telling the difference between Nobodies and Heartless these days…"

"It was only Neoshadows this time." For all her indifferent words, X'ero herself was actually looking irritated by the slow progress. "I can't help it. I guess I'm set to summon heartless by default."

"That's the problem." Saïx said. "You keep trying to solve this problem as a mage. You are not supposed to be summoning. It is more like a call… You have to focus your mind and call out to them."  
>"Focus my mind… I should be able to do that."<p>

"And X'ero…" Saïx grabbed her right hand so the glove dissolved. "No magic and no darkness! You are supposed to be communicating with the lesser Nobodies – not cursing them."

"It's the no magic thing that's hard."

Saïx took a step back and took in the sight of X'ero as she focused on her task once more. He was in the rare situation of actually being in a good mood. No one had attacked them on today's mission – which was a rarity in these days - and Saïx had the satisfaction of seeing his own plan slowly beginning to succeed. For once things actually seemed to be progressing the way he wanted it to.

Habit: It was a powerful force, and Saïx was making full use of it. Under the cover of training he was cautiously entering X'ero's… sphere of intimacy, making her used to him being physically close and slightly touching her. It worked better than he had hoped. As long as he was acting like nothing was out of the extraordinary X'ero apparently assumed that nothing was going on. She had not even paid notice to the fact that he wasn't wearing his gloves and she seemed comfortable enough by his close presence.

It was, however, not enough in the long run. He needed an opportunity to be more aggressive, to make X'ero wake up from her pretended innocence (He didn't buy that one bit, not after meeting Nihil).

Something passed by his feet, Saïx looked down and saw a dusk wriggle by. Three more followed it and the four dusks circled around X'ero.

"I did!" She said. "They actually answered!"

"About time you made progress."

X'ero's disaster-smile appeared:

"You are simply incapable of giving praise."

"You'll get the praise you deserve when you master it completely, but now it's time to get back."

"Actually…" X'ero's smile grew a little eerier and she tilted her head so the long side of her hair slid out from behind her ear and once more covered her face. "I have something I have been told to ask you."

Curious about her choice of words Saïx looked at X'ero expectantly, but she did not continue. Her smile did not vanish either.

"Do you plan to ask me today?"

"I actually don't want to, I think it's a bad idea."

"Then don't." Saïx said, and inwardly added, 'especially when you smile like that'.

"No, I'm expected to." X'ero took a deep breath. "Marluxia wants you to cooperate with me tomorrow – not that I have anything to do with Marluxia. It was a totally random request he came with. I have never spoken to the man before."

"…before I answer, can we get one thing clear?"

"Depends on what."

"I have known for some time that you work with Larxene and Marluxia, and I have already gone to Xemnas with it – it backfired."

"Zexion helped me?"

"…Yes."

X'ero's smile vanished and she stopped tugging on the long side of her hair.

"I have to thank Zexion for one more thing." She said relived. "But it is good to know. It makes the conversation less uncomfortable for me."

"And it makes it less likely that I get a spell fired at me." Saïx commented with crossed arms.

"Properly… But would you like answering my question now?"

"I follow Xemnas because I respect the simple fact that the man is stronger than me – at least in direct combat. I do _not_ have that respect for Marluxia."

X'ero shrugged:

"I didn't really think you would agree." It seemed the conversation was over since X'ero began to walk back towards the castle again.

In one fluid move Saïx caught with her on one of the staircase. His arm shot out, blocking X'ero's path ahead. He grabbed her shoulder with the other hand and applied pressure so she was forced to sit down on a nearby stair.

"Saïx?" She asked confused as she looked up at him. He placed himself on the step just below hers.

"It won't be that easy." Saïx explained. "You can't just ask me such a question and then give up that easily." Saïx bowed down a little and leaned in closer. "Convince me, X'ero!"

"But… how?"

"For starters, you could explain in a little more details what it is you want me to do."

"So you can go straight to Xemnas? Forget it – either you agree and we execute the plan or you disagree and we do nothing. As it is now, you won't have anything conclusive to tell Xemnas. At least not something you, according to yourself, haven't told him before."

X'ero orange eye locked with his, unwavering. It was as if she was trying to tell him that he could not intimidate her.

"I also have no reason to help you out." Saïx said.

"I just say it was fine." X'ero began to be confused. "Why are we still having this conversation?"

Still with firm grip on her shoulder, Saïx rested his other hand on a stair a little above the one he had forced X'ero to sit down on. In that way he could lean in closer from his lower position without losing his balance.

"I have no respect for Marluxia, but…" Saïx kept moving closer. "Perhaps _you_ could offer me something?"

They were now so close that Saïx could feel X'ero's breath against his skin. It was first now he truly realized how much of double edge sword his tactic was. It was true that X'ero has gotten used to having him physically close, but he had also gotten use of the brief feelings of her skin, her glowing orange eye and her eerie smile. He wanted to push for it. It was too late to go back anyway. He was not getting out of this one without demanding something of X'ero.

"I'm not helping you harm Zexion." X'ero firmly said.

"I know. I'm not stupid."

"I cannot offer you any kind of power and you have a higher ranking than me in the Organization… What do you want? I can't see it."

"What I want is not something you _see_." They were now so close they could be without actually touching each other. It was almost amusing how X'ero persisted in being oblivious about everything. "What I want is something only you can give me, but I promise you: You will _enjoy _it as well."

"S… Saïx, you are confusing me. Can't you just make it clear?"

The slight shiver he saw running over her skin, the tremble he heard in her voice. The tension itself was thrilling for him, he wanted to see how far he could push her with words before her shield of obliviousness came crumbling down.

"I want _you_, your time, your attention." He was sure that he saw her eye getting a little wider. "How about tonight?" He whispered to her.

X'ero breathed in and out three times before answering. Saïx knew, because he counted each breath as the warm air fell over his lips with and almost vibrating sensation.

"…You want to train in the night?"

He almost lost his balance. How? How could she still get his intention wrong? What did she want him to do? Carve his intention into stone? Saïx decided that it was time to act and was about to close the remaining distance between them when he felt cold metal between his fingers. He looked down and discovered that his hand had slid from X'ero's shoulder to the zipper in her coat and slightly unzipped it.

Saïx was up and had put some distance between them in a few seconds.

"I… I'll see you tomorrow."

"Wait," X'ero shouted after him. "Give me a clear answer, already."

Saïx desperately searched through his brain after something to say. Anything - a quick explanation, she would buy.

"…Eraser. I want the truth about what really happen with it, I don't believe that story you told the knight."

He was away before X'ero could answer him.

* * *

><p><em>Pet.<em>

X'ero sat on her floor and leant her head against the door in the bedroom. The memory was hazy and unclear, but he had called her pet, that one person Nihil had been with. Of three captains he had been the highest ranking and had stood in the way of both Lady Nihil and the 'genius' creator of her artificial beating heart. But he had been strong and well respected, on top of that was he also higher ranked than her, so Nihil could not just kill him with her magic. It had to be poison and it had to be subtle. How the idea of sex came to Nihil, X'ero didn't know, but Nihil had been around 18-19 years at the time so X'ero couldn't count out hormones as a factor – besides Nihil had never had any sense of self preservation. It had been a terrible month, mainly because the act itself had never been pleasant for Nihil since she had to force herself to do it, but X'ero guessed that it had paid off in the end since the highest ranking captain had died after a month, thanks to fake, toxin nails that Nihil had worn.

_Pet_. The high captain had called her that, even on his deathbed when he had realized what happened. A tamed monster that was what he saw her as. That had been the moment Nihil had realized that no one, besides herself, ever would see her as a woman. No matter what (or who) she did.

X'ero had never questioned that conviction – it was not like she became more human in the eyes of others after her transformation to a Nobody. Besides it had not been important to her nobody self.

"He was _not_ about to kiss me." X'ero said out loud to herself.

She did not know why that idea had entered her head when she had talked to Saïx on the stairs. But that had been something with the way he talked and looked at her that had made her think - only for a second – that he had some kind of intention towards her.

X'ero shook her head as she got up.

No one saw her as a woman. No one! She should not be thinking about this. No one had intentions towards her, not Saïx, not Zexion… Wait!

X'ero froze where she stood.

Why had she included Zexion in this mess? She couldn't possibly be thinking… No, she wasn't allowed to think like that. It only brought memories of pain. Saïx had wanted to intimidate her, nothing more… less… different – whatever the word was which she was searching for. She didn't know why she suddenly was so confused.

Not completely convinced X'ero decided to concentrate on what was really important. Saïx had finally decided to question her about Eraser, she had expected him to do it earlier, given what the knight had said. Normally X'ero would never tell anyone anything from her past, but Saïx was the one that had been confronted with it the most, and the whole Eraser thing mattered a little to her – at least compared to all the other stuff in her past. It wouldn't really make a huge difference if she told him now.

* * *

><p>The cold water splashed over his body, cooling it down. Saïx turned the shower off. He had been <em>so<em> close, but he blew it. He should not had been so startled, it was not like he had been about to do something he ultimately hadn't planned to do. It was the fact that he had done it without thinking that bothered him. He was a berserker, yes, but Sora had still not defeated enough heartless to create anything that remotely reminded of a moon in their world, so he had no excuse for not being in control. Besides it was not like he originally had planned to undress her right there on the stairs. He had only meant to pressure her into being with him. Perhaps not the nicest thing to do, but he had never pretended to be nice and as long as X'ero went along somewhat of her free will he didn't care why she did it. His goal was after all to humiliate Zexion, he should not lose sight of that goal.

As he left his room to attend to his duties he saw a parcel neatly placed before his tombstone. Assuming it was for him, he picked it up and read the letter on top of it.

_Saïx, if you tell Xemnas of this I'll poison all of your potions – I mean it! Anyway, I wasn't completely lying to the knight._

The packet was extremely soft, Saïx opened it to find the gray jacket X'ero had worn on the day they had met. Saïx turned it around, wondering what use X'ero thought that he could possibly have of her jacket. As he turned it inside out while wondering if X'ero had finally lost it, he noticed that a part of the jacket felt thicker than the rest. He ripped the lining up and grabbed a strange object as it felt towards the floor. It felt weird - as something that couldn't quite decide wherever it should hard as metal or light as air or flowing like liquid and thus ended up being neither. The thing was constantly changing size and form too. As if what it truly was, hadn't been decided by its creator.

Saïx picked X'ero's note up once more and turned it around and as he had suspected, X'ero had indeed written something on the back.

_As I said to the knight the blade itself 'melted', but the hilt or head (or whatever the part of the keyblade, where you hold your hands, is named), remained. Anyway this is my end of the deal, so I expect you to keep your end. _

_P.S. I meant what I said about not telling Xemnas, I _will_ poison you if you tell him about it. (And I will know)_

"Are you threatening me, X'ero?" Saïx asked without expecting answer since she wasn't present. He packed the weird hilt into his pocket, because of the weird substance it could easily be squeezed together to fit anywhere. No wonder she had been able to hide it in her clothes.

Only X'ero would part with a broken keyblade to a person she not quite trusted while coming with threats and still keep it all in an everyday tone. She really had her very own unique mindset.

Saïx didn't notice that he was smiling as he folded the note together.

* * *

><p>Ns: It seemed Saïx managed to schock X'ero a little. I wonder if...! (Sees Zexion) Shouldn't you be sleeping?<p>

Zexion: If I don't wake up now, I'll trap you in a very painful illusion, which I'll also do if Saïx as much as thin about touching her again.


	27. Chapter 27:Mistress of the sick heart

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingodm Hearts and any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 27: Mistress of the sick heart<strong>

"Sora?" Axel asked. "Are you really sure you want to talk with him?"

Very slowly an evil grin spread over the white haired girls face:

"Axel... why do you think that I want to _talk_ with him." Nihil looked at all the heartless she had collected. "I want to judge his strength. I assume he wants to fight me."

Axel grabbed the witch's shoulder and turned her around to make sure he had her attention.

"I won't let you harm him. He's Roxas too."

"Your friend, right..." Nihil looked at Axel judgingly. "I can't understand that." She finally said. "In my opinion it is better to kill all that comes close before they kill you..." The way she looked at him, made Axel think that he soon would be in need of a new alliance. "...But in any case: I doubt the keyblade master will die. Heroes tend to have the endurance of weeds- simply impossible to get rid of."

"Weed, huh... I'll be sure to pass _that _message along."

"Good!"

Nihil turned away from him again. Yes, she would test the keyblade master, but then what? She was not sure how to proceed after that. All from her past was gone. There was no one left to take revenge against, there was no power, no position to steal from the people who had humiliated her. How could she ever prove that she was better when there was no one who was lesser? Somehow it didn't satisfy her heart to make these new persons, she didn't know, suffer. There was still hate in her, she just didn't know what to direct it at. It was all pointless. Under her eye patch Nihil's left eye dilated, she removed the patch to reveal her yellow eye. It seemed to shine and she smiled once more:

"Well, well... that was quicker than expected, but I always had a terrible timing."

Saïx placed an unconscious Luxord against the castle wall. Marluxia did the same with Demyx:

"Oblivion..." the flower user said. "I almost feel home."

"Yeah?" Larxene glared at him. "We can't just leave them unconscious here with all the heartless swarming around, so what is the great plan, oh big leader?"

Saïx raised an eyebrow at the tone of the thunder user, but didn't say anything to the two arguing, instead he moved away from them towards X'ero who was sitting on the stairs leading up to the castle.

"What's up with those two?" he asked.

"They are having an argument," X'ero shrugged. "Don't ask me. I'm not exactly an expert on relationships."

"True."

Saïx sat down beside X'ero. She looked tired, but that was no surprise. In order to force Xigbar's attention away from Marluxia she had to summon a Darkside, two Gigas shadows and an uncountable number of Soldiers. Luckily it hadn't been as hard to get Larxene away from Xaldin and somehow X'ero had managed to switch one of Demyx's potions out with an exploding version of her sleeping potion. Saïx made a mental note to ask her how that worked, since he wasn't keen on suddenly having exploding poison bottles on the battlefield. He assumed it was some kind of magic trick.

X'ero turned a little so she could look at the castle.

"So that is Oblivion... It sure is a fitting name for that place."

Something in the way she said it made Saïx look at X'ero a little sharper. Was there a hint of bitterness in her voice?

"Have you been here before?" he asked.

"No... it's just..." X'ero looked more uncomfortable. "This place reminds me of home."

"Home? You mean your original world?"

X'ero nodded. She tried to hide it but her hands were shaking slightly.

"The atmosphere is the same: Sort of...waiting for your death. Lurking enemies around each corner... something like that." X'ero shook her head. "I'm not good with metaphors."

What should she say to Saïx? That this place made her fully remember how it felt to be looked at as a monster, to be isolated, to have only the humiliation of her enemies as a source of comfort. X'ero closed her eyes to calm herself and force her memories at a tolerable distance. She was not that woman anymore! She did not have a heart to lead her further into darkness. She...!

X'ero felt Saïx hand on her shoulder.

"You are stronger than your other, X'ero." He said. "You are on my team, and I will not allow you to fail."

"You make it sound like it's your decision."

"It is!" Saïx moved the long side of her hair behind her ear so he could see both her eyes. "You will not let me down."

"I _knew_ it!" Larxene had walked up to them. "I just knew it!"

"Knew what?" X'ero asked as she stood up, confused by Larxene's triumphant tone.

"Saïx is hitting on you!"

"Hitting?" X'ero was confused.

Saïx stood up too.

"So what if I am? It's none of your business."

Larxene's jaw practically fell to the floor.

"You are actually _admitting_ it. Why are you... What are you up to, you jerk?"

"There are only two women in the Organization. I simply picked the best!"

"You!" Larxene immediately summoned her knives. "I've been itching to kill someone for days. You just volunteered!"

"I guess we'll have our first casualty." Saïx too got into fighting position.

"Stop it, Larxene!" Marluxia arrived at the scene with a groggy-looking looking Demyx and Luxord.

"He is right, lass." Luxord said. "Unless you are saying that, Marluxia bluffed when he said we were kidnapped."

"We were!" X'ero lied. "And we can't flee through the dark corridors because the keyblade monsters currently are in them!"

"Some coincidence." Luxord said skeptically. "But I guess you all have a plan."

"Go after our captor, of course." Marluxia said. "Problem is Castle Oblivion is big. There are 13 basement floors and 13 floors above the ground." He looked at X'ero. "You got any idea where she would be."

"Properly not on the top or bottommost floor," X'ero thought out loud. "I have always been good at hiding. She will be somewhere with a lot of heartless."

"Castle Oblivion is more than just the floors up and down." Saïx interrupted. "We had Axel search through all of the side rooms after the situation in the castle was dealt with."

"We are 'a situation' now?" Larxene asked angrily.

"I got it!" X'ero suddenly said. She knelt down and placed a hand on the ground. Three Scarlet Tangos appeared hovering in the air. "Heartless are attracted to two things: Hearts and stronger heartless. That is something my other currently has. The heartless will react in some way if we get close enough to her reaction."

"So you propose we split up." Marluxia said. "We have no way to communicate with each other so we'll have to time our search." He smiled. "It could work. Larxene and I will take the upper floors. We are familiar with that location. Since Saïx know about the side rooms that's where he and X'ero will search."

"That leaves the basements to us." Luxord said.

"Yes. Remember: We are just trying to locate the enemy. If any of us finds her you'll retreat to this area instantly. No fighting her and the dark corridors are closed to us. If you find nothing we will meet here at rendezvous point in one and a half hour." Marluxia paused for a second. "Try not to fade away."

* * *

><p>The silence from X'ero was somewhat ominous since she had been trying to start a conversation a couple of times since they had split up. Each time, however, she had just fallen into silence half way through a sentence. It was obvious that she was still bothered by the situation and the close presence of the other her. It didn't help on the atmosphere to have a heartless circling around them in the air.<p>

"X'ero there is no need to be afraid."

"I'm not afraid. I'm just a little unsettled."

"A lot!" Saïx sighed. "I have already said that you are stronger. Listen to me!"

Saïx took a step closer to her and reached out to tug her hair behind her ear again, but to his surprise X'ero took a step back and avoided him.

"Why do you keep doing that?"

"Do you know that you right eye are slightly less orange than your left?"

"What…? I know that, but that does not answer my question."

"It actually does. I like seeing them both."

X'ero pushed past him and continued away in an almost running speed as soon as Saïx had finished his sentence. Thinking that she had sensed something he hurried to try and catch up to her.

X'ero didn't mean to speed up, but if she hadn't been unsettled before she defiantly was it now. Saïx had actually smiled at her. _Smiled! _Suddenly Larxene words came into mind. X'ero didn't know exactly what the phrase 'hitting on' meant, but since the phrase came from Larxene and X'ero hadn't quite understood it, she could guess the theme. It wasn't true. She had to be reading too much into it again.

The frustration and anger within herself suddenly hit her like a hammer to the forehead. It felt so intense, so much more real than a mere memory. X'ero reeled backwards and placed a hand on the wall and gasped, her head was throbbing with pain as flashbacks played through her mind quicker and quicker. Fear, real fear welled up in her and threatened to drown her in another breakdown. In her mind she could feel the darkness of her memories press against her barrier.

She looked up. The Scarlet Tango had changed behaviour. It no longer floated around in pointless circles, but seemed attracted to something on the other side of a door.

"X'ero!" Saïx said. "What's happening?"

"She's on the other side of that door. I can feel her."

"Okay. We retreat and..." Saïx stopped. X'ero wasn't listening, instead she was moving forward in an almost trance-like state. She pushed the door open and glared at her other self sitting on the edge of a balcony, looking down on an uncountable number of heartless.

Nihil turned around and stood up.

"You have a terrible timing. I'm expecting a visit shortly." She saw Saïx as well. "You are here too. Can't say it's a pleasure."

"Likewise." Saïx stepped in between the two girls. He had to get X'ero away from Nihil before she was absorbed into her true self. "The two of us have an unfinished fight."

"Not interested." Nihil said with crossed arms. "I already have my part of Eraser so with should I bother with a stray dog like you?" She tilted her head to look at X'ero behind Saïx. "Speaking of keyblades: Where is the other half?"

"I lost it somewhere."

Nihil narrowed her eyes.

"I don't believe you." She clasped her hands together. "Double-Aeroga!"

Saïx and X'ero quickly leapt away to avoid the attack. They somehow ended on each side of the balcony. Nihil sprinted across the floor and grabbed X'ero by the collar.

"Where is it?" She screamed.

X'ero didn't answer. She tried desperately to stifle the feelings of hatred that grew in her as she came in physical contact with Nihil. X'ero tried to push both the feelings and the other away, but everything became blurry, and she could feel her control of the darkness slipping.

Saïx saw Nihil grab X'ero. He immediately summoned his claymore, but he could not attack. Nihil had X'ero pressed against the edge of the balcony, if he attacked she would push X'ero over the edge. He could see it in her eyes.

"Give it to me." Nihil continued to scream at X'ero. Darkness began to surround the two girls and Saïx saw X'ero become more see-through. Even though she was fighting it she was beginning to have her existence absorbed by Nihil. He _had_ to get Nihil away from X'ero.

_Clonk!_ Even if it wasn't made of ordinary metal, the hilt still made a sound as it hit the back of Nihil's head.

"There is your keyblade." Saïx said.

"The hilt! It's the fucking hilt. What am I supposed to do with that?" Nihil shook X'ero more violently. "You are pathetic! Look at you: Depending on other people! How could you betray your nature like that? How can you accept others?"

"I'm...not...you...anymore!" X'ero managed to choke the words out. "I'm not ruled by my petty emotions."

Nihil and X'ero eyes met. The exact same look of disgust crossed their faces, then something happen with the darkness that surrounded them. It floated from the body of X'ero and pierced through Nihil's chest. She gasped and released X'ero as she staggered away. X'ero got up again, but swayed dangerously. Saïx quickly grabbed her.

"I'm all right!" She said. "In fact I'm fine. I feel like a connection has been severed. All the emotions are fading into memories again." She smiled. "I'll be myself shortly."

"Just keep being you." Nihil said. "Like I would ever allow you into me."

Someone clapped their hands together close by. All three look to the door as Marluxia and Larxene entered.

"That was quite a scene, but I haven't expected anything less." He smirked.

"What are you doing here?" Saïx asked.

"I just thought it would be wiser to keep close to X'ero. If anyone was fated to find Nihil it was X'ero. The split up was a nice idea to get Luxord and Demyx out of the way." Marluxia nodded approving to Larxene. "It seems you were right in one aspect: Saïx really is hitting on X'ero."

Nihil snorted:

"He is not hitting her. It is more likely the opposite."

If Saïx ever had doubted that Nihil and X'ero had been the same at some point, all doubts were erased now.

"...You are not normal, are you?" Marluxia asked disbelieving.

"Are you really one to ask...Pinky?"

Marluxia began having trouble keeping his smirk intact.

"Listen, Lady Nihil. I'll make it easy for you. Hand over your keyblade and you'll make out of here alive."

Nihl laughed:

"Excuse me. I believe that's my line. You are inside _my_ castle, now."

Marluxia summoned his scythe and attacked. Nihil dodged under it.

"Double-darkthunder."

The blue ray missed and hit the wall where suspicious cracks appeared.

X'ero and Saïx looked at each other and the quickly moved to safety in the corridor.

"You are not going to help?" Saïx asked Larxene as they watched the fight.

"My opinion is not appreciated!"

"I wonder who will win." X'ero said.

Saïx shrugged:

"Personally I hope they will kill each other."

* * *

><p>It became his salvation that this was all a dream. Zexion rested on the island he had conjured up. Thankfully he could summon Lexicon and dreams where in the end nothing more than an illusion. A trick of the mind. His profession.<p>

Zexion had figured out that he to some extend could control this world. There was still such a powerful force behind the dream that he couldn't completely break the spell, but at least he could manipulate it to get some much needed rest.

A movement began to show itself among the feathers and then they began to float upwards. The green feathers assembled themselves to a gigantic green bird. From its movements Zexion realized that it was going to attack. He quickly opened Lexicon and created a paper barrier. The bird dived straight into it with full force. The barrier shook but kept in place, it was after all much more solid than a one of his barriers would be in the real world. An animalistic scream pierced through the air, and the speed of the attacks increased. It was not just the barrier, but Zexions arms as well that was shaking, but he didn't allow the creature to break through the barrier. He didn't have a proper weapon to fight it, and he didn't know if it was intelligent enough to wrap its mind in an illusion. The animal screamed one more time and drove into the barrier with full force. Zexion was forced to take a step back as the barrier temporally broke, but the animal didn't attack again. Green feathers were falling through the air as large green snowflakes. The bird shrunk and changed shape until it was formed like a human person.

"I apologize." The feather person said. "I'm but a mere echo. I mistook the darkness lingering on your skin for the darkness of my mistress."

"I'm a Nobody. I have been abandoned by both darkness and light."

"I sense no darkness in your heart, but you must have been in physical contact with the darkness recently."

"I was." Zexion remembered that he had hugged X'ero when she had lost control. "And you could not sense any darkness in my heart because I don't have one."

"I see... That must be a peaceful state of mind."

"It's an incomplete state." Zexion argued. "I know that you come from X'ero's other, but not everyone is conflicted because of their heart."

The creature laughed:

"They are. Can you honestly say that you have always made sound judgments?"

"Yes. I'm a scientist, we always think things through."

The laughter grew louder and louder and in the same time less human.

"Then allow me to give you a parting gift: Another vision for you to enjoy."

Everything around Zexion disappeared and then he stood in a meeting room and watched a scene replay that he was all too familiar with:

"My fellow scientist," Xehanort said as he slammed a fist down in the table. "Our master has gone weak. He wishes to stop our research just because he fears the result. He fears the greatness that we are about to achieve. Are we about to let him stop us - or is it time to rise above our master in rank?"

The scene froze.

"Was the betrayal of your master truly the best decision or was it you wounded pride that caused you to betray your teacher? Was it simply because he dared to suggest that you could not foresee the consequences of your research?"

"That's not..."

The scene changed once more. Zexion recognized the new scene as well. It was before the final experiment that had unleashed the darkness. He saw himself standing far away as they begun to prepare for the experiment. His eyes automatically shifted from himself to Xehanort. Their leader was busiest one, but now when he was allowed to stand outside the scene, Zexion couldn't help but think that there was a slightly crazed looked in their leader's eyes.

"Can you honestly say that it was a sound judgment to follow this man? Did you take all safety precautions beforehand? Or were the lot of you too rash in your judgment, because you deep down wanted to prove your master wrong? – prove that you were the best..."

"I..."

"I admit that my mistress is sick to the core of her hear, but even the most logical creature has a hint of that sickness." The voice of the feathers said. "But now I must go. I have no more power to argue with you."

Everything faded into darkness again. In his bed in the non-existing world Zexion's eyelids fluttered. Then he opened his eyes, in his hand was a bend feather. The first Zexion noticed was the smell. It was of herbs and other unknown remedies. He looked at his table and saw stacks of bottles lined up. He guessed that they all contained poisons. X'ero must have camped out in here, watching over him, she was properly out on a mission now. Zexion swung his leg over the edge of the bed. He should properly report to Xemnas that he was up and well.

Zexion left his room, only to almost bump into Xigbar.

"Whoa! You are up."

"Yes, but I must admit that I'm more tired than rested. It was a rather...turbulent dream. A lot to think through..."

"Well it's a rather turbulent reality you have woken up to. All the neophytes have gone missing."

"Demyx and Luxord too?" Zexion could see, Marluxia and Larxene be up to no good - Saïx too, and perhaps even X'ero, but not Demyx and Luxord.

"Yes. It's half of the Organization... again."

"You think they are faded." Zexion mind stopped working. X'ero... gone...

"I don't know. But I can't see us doing a rescuing mission. That's not really our style."

"Then it is time to change our style." Zexion calmly said. "We can afford to lose half the Organization in one move... again. We need to track them down and get them back."

"I agree." A voice said and Xemnas entered. "I have thought it over and concluded that we should not make the same mistake twice. Besides since it was heartless that made them disappear then Lady Nihil is by all likelihood involved..."

"So who is going?" Xigbar asked.

"I am." Xemnas said. "I wish to meet Nihil personally."

* * *

><p>Ns: So both Xemnas and Sora are heading to Oblivion... that can't be good.<p>

Nihil: Ha! I can take anyone on. Just wait for the next chapter and I'll wipe out everyone.


	28. Chapter 28: Fusion

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 28: Fusion <strong>

The scythe gracefully cut through the air, leaving a trail of pink rose petals in its wake. Nihil managed to dodge the attack but was forced to move backwards as the scythe once more was aimed at her direction. Her retreat was forced to a sudden stop when she reached the railing at the end of the balcony.

"This is the end of the road for you." Marluxia said. "Hand over the keyblade now."

Nihil opened her right hand and a blue fire sprung from the palm, but instead of throwing the dark fire at Marluxia, Nihil let the fire ball grew in her hand until it was at double size.

"I hope X'ero informed you that I can cast three spells at once."

Nihil began to charge up a thunderga-spell, Marluxia sensed the danger and leapt backwards. Nihil fused the two spells together to a dark blue glowing sphere, but instead of aiming it at Marluxia she threw it at the floor. As it hit the floor it exploded into a shockwave of fire and thunder. The walls between the hallway and the balcony were blown in by the force as well. When the dust had settled down, the three Nobodies in the hallway, there had been watching the fight the whole time, saw that not much was left of the balcony.

"That is why I prefer _not_ to mix thunder and fire spells." X'ero dryly commented. "It tends to explode." She looked down. She could not see the bottom of the hole the balcony up till now had been watching over. X'ero hoped that it was only the many airborne heartless that blocked for her view of the bottom, but she had a slight inkling that it properly went all the way down to the bottom basement floor. "Does Marluia by any chance have the ability to fly?" She asked Larxene.

"Not what I know." Larxene glanced at Saïx unsure if she should continue. "But he does have a second form..." She whispered to X'ero. "I might have helped him."

"We already know that." Saïx said coldly. "Do you think we are idiots?"

"Yes."

"Don't start an argument." X'ero interrupted before it got out of hand. "I can't fly, but I'm willingly to bet that Nihil survived that fall. She has an amazing ability to survive her own crazy suicide moves."

"Funny how both of you worry about the fall, but not the explosion." Saïx pointed out.

"It was a magical explosion." X'ero waved her hand in the air. "It won't damage Nihil that much."

"But it could wound Marluxia." Larxene said and stood up. She flexed her muscles a little. "Screw it. I'm not letting that witch win. Not before I have beaten Marluxia up for not respecting me properly."

Before X'ero could stop Larxene jumped and disappeared among the mass of heartless.

"..." X'ero looked at Saïx speechless.

"I'm not doing that." Saïx said firmly. "I may be tough, but I have no desire to try out my ability to fall thirteen floors."

"We don't know if it's thirteen." X'ero began. "Why did she jump?" she suddenly asked. "The fall is too deep and they are arguing on top of that. Why risk yourself?"

"Larxene has always been rash. If she had thought more about it she properly wouldn't have jumped." Saïx sighed. He was absolutely not the right one to explain such a thing to X'ero. "Sometimes your body just react and you just move and do all the thinking afterwards. Have you never tried that?"

"After becoming X'ero? Not while I was in a sane condition..." X'ero stopped talking, Saïx could see by the quick flash of pain that flew over her face that it was an unpleasant memory. "That is not true I did do something unexplainable one time."

"What?" Saïx asked curious.

"I saved someone." X'ero shrugged. "What about you?"

"I'm a _berserker_. My fighting style is based on giving in to rage and just destroying whatever is near me."

"That doesn't count." X'ero said with crossed arms. "That is the moon affecting you."

"Then - No! I don't make mistakes."

X'ero mumbled something that seemed to consist of the words 'Sora' and 'defeat'. Saïx lifted X'ero's face up with a finger under her chin.

"Watch what you say." He warned.

"What do we do now?" X'ero asked undisturbed by the treat. "I'll have to agree with you on the 'not jumping part'.

"We meet up with Demyx and Luxord as agreed - and pretend we know nothing."

"But..."

"No buts." Saïx grabbed her hand and began to walk back.

"Slow down. You don't have to drag me."

* * *

><p>Luxord and Demyx were already there when Saïx and X'ero arrived.<p>

"We found something." Demyx proudly claimed. "Like this really huuuuge room at the almost bottom - with tons of heartless." Demyx suddenly deflated as he looked at Saïx. "You are not going to make us fight them are you?"

"No."

"I wonder if that was the room the balcony reached into." X'ero said.

"There certainly was a long way up to the ceiling." Luxord said. "But we didn't stay. Also when we moved away there was this loud sound. Like something fell down."

X'ero and Saïx looked at each other. They knew what had fallen.

"We should go there." X'ero said after a short break. "It might be the only clue we have to get out of this world. Besides I don't think Marluia and Larxene are going to show up. We are way past the agreed time of meeting." Nothing in her face or attitude reflected what she truly knew about the situation. She didn't even have her normal disastrous smile.

"You are properly right." Luxord said. "Marluxia and Larxene don't play the game by the set rules. We cannot wait for them. It was at the 12th basement floor."

As they left the entrance hall Saïx briefly placed a hand on X'ero's shoulder signaling her to stop.

"What is it?"

"I'm impressed that you can lie with such a straight face. That creepy smile of yours usually tells when something is not right..."

"I did not lie." X'ero said firmly. "I just left out a lot of the details. That's a lot easier than lying."

"What worries me is that you might have 'forgotten' to tell something important about Nihil. It wouldn't be the first time."

X'ero tugged in the long side of her hair and glanced at Saïx.

"..."

"X'ero, we are properly going to face her again now, and it wasn't exactly a success last time ..."

X'ero sighed.

"Unfortunately you do have a point." Suddenly X'ero's visible eye shone up and her gloves appeared. She took a step towards him. Worried that she had suddenly turned aggressive Saïx was about to step back when X'ero tiptoed so she could place a gloved hand on his forehead. Coming into full contact with it, Saïx could truly feel how her gloves were not made of cloth but of darkness, it spread out over his skin and he felt a slight tug at the back of his mind. Saïx realized that he was being scanned.

"Whoa...!" Not being the most elegant person in the world, X'ero lost her balance - standing on her toes as she was, and fell towards Saïx. He automatically grabbed her.

"Sorry!" X'ero said and backed away a little. "I cannot say if it's because we are Nobodies or if there really is something wrong, but the darkness inside Nihil felt more controlled and concentrated..." X'ero paused. "Perhaps it's just different for us. I mean you were just _touched_ by darkness in the process of losing your heart, and I... well I'm a Nobody too. It's not like I can have my heart corrupted again. I would need someone like that Riku guy to truly compare: Someone with a heart. Perhaps nothing is wrong."

"But you don't think so."

"I think that it is idiotic of us to fight Nihil in a room filled with heartless..." X'ero sighed. "But I guess it is too late to point that out now."

* * *

><p>"It's a trap, Sora!"Axel had repeated Nihil words to Sora, and just as he had expected Sora was eager to go. Perhaps eager was not the right word. Axel had never seen Sora or Roxas so angry and so determined.<p>

"Open the way in."

"All right, all right..." Axel opened a path to the dark corridors. "But I won't go, so don't expect me to save your hide. I can't keep doing that, you know." Despite his words Axel knew that he would take another route in and follow Sora. Sora was all that was left of his friends.

The path to Castle Oblivion was filled with a strange type of metal-like dogs. Sora, Donald and Goofy immediately summoned their weapons.

"They are with us." The male knight appeared again with his female counterpart. "I thought you said that it wasn't revenge you wanted."

"I must see her," Sora said. "The person who..." Sora couldn't get himself to say 'who killed Kairi'. He tried, but the words just wouldn't cross his lips.

"You must not _see_ her." The knight said seriously. "You must _stop_ her. She's evil. However, you should not face her alone. We will support you..."

"No!" Sora didn't mean to shout but he did it anyway. "I need to face this person alone."

"As you wish." The knights and the dogs faded away again.

"Sora..." Donald said. "You are not alone."

Sora looked at his two friends and tried to smile.

"I know."

When Sora, Donald and Goofy disappeared as well, the low sound of pages being turned could be heard, and Xemnas, Xigbar, Xaldin and Zexion appeared.

"That was close." Xaldin said. "Good to see that your skills have not been affected by your sleep."

"Of course not." Zexion claimed as he closed Lexicon again. "But it seems that it will be crowed in Oblivion."

They both looked at Xemnas since they expected him to come with some kind of statement, but their leader seemed lost in thought and for once silent.

Luxord, Demyx, Saïx and X'ero arrived in the room that Demyx and Luxord had found, in time to see Marluxia revert from his second form to his human form. It soon became clear that he had reverted back to save the little energy he had left. However, he kept up the fight.

"He is tired." Saïx stated the obvious. "Not surprisingly if they have been fighting the whole time."

"This confirms that there _is_ something different with Nihil." X'ero said. "I do not have such stamina."

The green echo firmly sitting on Nihil's shoulder, turned its head towards the group of newcomers, but that was all Nihil bothered with them. The way she ignored them was actually quite insulting.

A knife suddenly pierced through the air, just above Saïx's head.

"Larxene..." He said.

The group quickly moved in the direction the knife came from and found Larxene sitting up against a wall rubbing her left ankle.

"Why are you down here?" Luxord asked. "You are supposed to be upstairs."

"We jumped." Larxene chose the short version.

"But we are on the twelfth basement floor." Luxord looked quite shocked. "That was an unnecessary gamble to take young lady."

"Drop the lecture." Larxene snapped at Luxord. "I hurt my foot and now I can't support on it properly and I'm a speed fighter." She smirked. "I least I got the pleasure of jumping on a few heartless heads on my down." The smirk quickly became a pained one. "Stupid foot."

"Speaking of heartless. Why are they pacified? I mean they are just standing or floating here. Why not use them against us?" X'ero asked.

"Don't give her ideas." Demyx said. "She's scary enough without the heartless."

Saïx shook his head.

"Let her pay for her arrogance." He said. "Including ignoring us."

"So we are teaming up on her?" Luxord asked.

Saïx nodded and Luxord quickly lifted his hand, and before anyone could blink, Nihil was surrounded by human sized cards. The green bird on her shoulder lifted its head in the air and cried out, creating a shockwave that knocked the cards down.

"Dance water! Dance!"

The room was filled with water clones. The green bird lifted from the shoulder of the witch and flew through each of the clones, absorbing them on the way. Nihil still ignored them and concentrated on Marluxia.

"That's cheating!" Demyx said.

"Magic techniques won't work - Even if they are indirect attacks." X'ero explained. "She's not even going to acknowledge our presence unless we attack her directly."

"I tried throwing knives at her from here." Larxene said. "But she just blew them away."

"It's that bird…" Saïx said. "Besides making magic useless, it also has a nice pair of eyes to watch us with."

"Technically it's not a real bird, but the reflection of…" X'ero began, but stopped when Saïx glared at her. "It's perhaps a little late to be coming with information?" She asked unsurely.

"A little…" Saïx said, but then he suddenly stared at X'ero more intently or rather at her visible eye. He had always thought that X'ero just had a weird fashion taste, but now he thought about it: X'ero's eyes _were_ mismatched in colour – not a lot, but still... Nihil usually hid the same eye which X'ero showed. Saïx looked at Nihil. Her left eye was definitely yellow while her right was brown, perhaps…

"Larxene, give me a knife…"

"No way! They are my weapons. That would be like lending you a part of me!"

"Don't argue. It's an order."

Larxene cursed, but still summoned a knife. Saïx took it and summoned his own weapon. He grabbed the claymore with two hands to hide the knife under the hilt. Then he leapt a Nihil. The bird on her shoulder immediately began to flap its wing and cry out. Nihil pushed Marluxia backwards with a triple aeroga spell and spun towards Saïx.

"Dark-firoga!"

Saïx threw the knife in the same second Nihil cast the spell, in the hope that she wouldn't notice the extra weapon before it was too late. He was hit by the full force of the black tornado. But the pain was worth it when a scream told him that he had hit the target. X'ero was quickly by his side, turning off the blue flames that threaten to burn him.

"Did you _have_ to run straight into a spell?" She scolded, but then saw Nihil. "Oh…"

Nihil had thrown the knife on the floor and now tried desperately to quell the bloodstream, dripping out from the place where her left eye had been.

"Y… you bastard." She screamed, but then froze when the echo began to act up. It flapped its wing and swung itself off the shoulder of its creator, and then it proceeded to flew around in the room - aimlessly, while bumping into heartless on the way.

"How did you know?" X'ero asked Saïx. "That my scanning ability is placed in my eye?"

"I already told that I like your eyes." Saïx said and succeeded in making X'ero look at him utterly confused. "I _did_ notice that your left eye have an tendency to shine. Beside Nihil usually hide that eye."

"That's just because she's weird." X'ero claimed, but quickly changed the subject before someone had a chance to point out the X'ero was weird as well. "Let's use the opening." X'ero summoned her gloves and clasped her hands together. "Dark-firoga."

"Reflect!" Nihil quickly blocked the spell, but had to leap back when Luxord's cards suddenly came flying at her.

"Dance water! Dance!" Even Demyx was motivated to join the attack and X'ero quickly backed him up by throwing a double dark-fire at her other.

"Triple-thunderga." Electricity split Nihil's fingertips to pierce the water clones, while she avoided the fireball from X'ero, but suddenly she stopped moving as she grabbed her right arm that was hanging strangely numb from her body.

"Ha!" It came from behind them where Larxene had fought herself up in standing position with the support of the wall. "Stupid of you to use my element: Real thunder paralyzes!" She summoned four knives with her free hand and threw them at Nihil. With the right side numb, Nihil barely managed to dodge and it was impossible for her to avoid Marluxia's sudden incoming scythe attack as well. It grazed her leg and she fell down.

"To hell with you all." She said, as she fought to stand up again with the wounded leg. "What kind of group goes six against one?"

"With all the heartless here I would say that it's _you_ that have _us _outnumbered." X'ero coldly said.

"Do you have any idea how long it took me to pacify all of them?" Nihil asked. "I have a plan. I can't waste them against nothings like you."

Marluxi tried to laugh, but ended up coughing. Even with the break the rest of the group had bought him, he was still tired.

"Now. Is. Not. The. Time. To. Be. Belittling. Us." He said. His words would have been a lot more threatening if he didn't have to gasp for air after each words.

Nihil narrowed her healthy eye:

"Well, I do know what you are after." She held a hand out in the air and darkness formed until she stood with the airy keyblade in her hand.

"What?" Luxord gasped and looked at X'ero.

"Eh… I had no idea about that." X'ero quickly said. Luxord had enough tact to not question her further and X'ero just hoped that Saïx wouldn't notice the fact that Demyx was not surprised about the keyblade at all.

"If you think I'm going to hand it over, then you are wrong." Nihil swung her hand backwards.

"She's going to use a raid-attack." X'ero tried to warn Marluxia, but it was too late. The keyblade rotated through the air. Marluxia tried to block with his scythe, but the block wasn't timed right and his scythe was knocked out of his hand and fell to the ground where it dissolved into rose blades. The keyblade turned around in the air and returned to Nihil like a boomerang. She grabbed it with her no longer numb hand, and swung it around until she stood in a new fighting stance. A green light emerged from the tip of the weapon. Without enough stamina to re-summon his weapon Marluxia couldn't block the attack and the beam pierced him through the chest. Even though it was an attack to his torso, Marluxia grabbed his head.

"No," He said as he dropped to his knees. "It's all disappearing. My… my memories. It's not fair. This time I won't... I deserve to win for once …" And with that Marluxia faded into the nothingness.

There was silence amongst the Nobodies. It had all happen so fast that none of them had reacted in time. Not to mention that the two fastest amongst them were hurt.

"You bitch!" Larxene was the first to react. She flung herself from the wall to charge at Nihil, forgetting all about her bad leg. As soon as she took a step on the bad food she swayed and would have fallen very ungraceful to the floor if Luxord hadn't been a gentleman and supported her.

"I don't need your help." She spat.

"No. You need an elixir."

Nihil laughed:

"So who's next?" she asked.

Saïx summoned his claymore.

"Back me up." He ordered X'ero.

"Are you crazy?" X'ero asked. "You took a direct hit from a magic attack earlier."

"I'm the only one suited for close combat right now. Unless of course you want to go."

"It won't be necessary." X'ero said then she suddenly smiled her eerie smile at Nihil. "Saïx really messed up your scanning, huh? You can't even sense that the keyblade wielder is close to this castle."

"Seriously?" Nihil seemed to doubt X'ero for a second but then she changed her mind. "Why should you lie about that?" She asked herself more than X'ero. "I no longer have time to play with you."

Eraser disappeared again and Nihil stepped into the middle of the room, mumbling some kind of chant. Black feathers began to cover her body.

"Is she reverting back to a heartless?" Saïx asked X'ero.

"I don't think so…"

The feather removed themselves from Nihil's body, floating around her – around her and up in a dark vortex. Each feather sought a heartless out and fused with it only to pull the heartless into the merciless vortex. The Nobodies all backed closer to the wall, afraid to be sucked in as well.

"She's fusing them all together. She's creating something big from the heartless." X'ero shook her head. She just couldn't believe this.

"You mean like a big heartless?" Demyx asked.

"A _really_ big heartless, but if I know that chant correct it's an ability fusion not a body fusion. So whatever comes out it will be capable of doing each what the heartless was capable off."

"I jumped on a lot of Possessors on my way down," Larxene said. "And there was a lot more. Do you remember the forest?"

X'ero's visible eye got big:

"She's going to turn the whole castle into a heartless."

Saïx immediately summoned a portal.

"We are out of here!"

"Have you forgotten the keyblade monsters?" Luxord asked.

"If the choice is between being inside a castle of a heartless or fighting some keyblade monsters: I'll choose the last.

the group tumbled out of the dark portal in a safe distance to Castle Oblivion, and watched the castle being covered in a black aura.

"That is not natural." X'ero said with a shaking voice. "She truly is a monster. Why did she have to prove it?"

Saïx looked at X'ero as she spoke. Her expression was normal, but her voice revealed the pain. He didn't know how to answer her question, and before he had the chance X'ero suddenly spun around.

"That is just too much." She said a hint of anger in her voice. The other turned around as well to see the male knight standing behind them.

"Well," Saïx said as he realized that the cover-story somehow had become the truth. "It looks like I'll have my fight."

* * *

><p>Ns: And the chapter is up.<p>

Larxene: You... What Am I supposed to do now?

Ns: I advice: Survive! You are not exactly in safety.

Larxene: I'll kill that bitch!

Nihil (Laughs): You are welcome to try.

Ns (Sighs): do you have to provoke everbody?

Nihil: Yes.


	29. Chapter 29: Enemy

Ns: Final chapter this round. As said I might not update next week.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters involved with Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 29: Enemy<strong>

Even if he had been able to remember Castle Oblivion, Sora properly wouldn't have recognized the castle. The magical dark aura, that had completely enveloped the castle, made it unrecognizable. But even so Sora wasn't afraid to brave the dark veil and hammer on the locked door.

"Open up. I want to talk with you."

"Sora, get back!"

The stairs leading up to the door suddenly turned into a slope, and Sora slid down and landed on top of Goofy, but before he had time to say something the doors opened and the castle breathed fire at the team – literally breathed.

After having avoided the fire Sora and his two friends watched how the doors opened and closed in a slow rhythm.

"I think it is living." Goody said.

Donald clubbed Goofy with his wand.

"Don't be stupid. That is not possible."

"Look again." Sora pointed.

A big empty yellow eye appeared on the castle tower and huge hand stretched out of one of the walls and into the air until it towered over the three heroes. They quickly ran and were free from the shadow of the hand just as said hand came crashing down on the earth. The shockwave from the impact was enough to knock them of their feet.

"Sora, where do we attack it?" Donald asked.

"I think its weakness is inside."

The only problem with that was that the only entrance to the castle was threatening to charcoal them if they tried to enter.

The hand once more hovered over them, but when it came crashing down again Sora was ready. He made sure he was just a few inches away from where the hand made an impact with the ground and jumped over the shockwave. He managed to land on top of the hand and quickly followed the arm upwards towards the walls. A journey that was much longer and much more uphill than he first had anticipated. (Not that he had thought much about it.)

The arm waved around in the air to throw him of, but Sora kept his balance and kept as steady pace until he was final at the walls. With his keyblade kept hitting the wall on the spot from where the arm had emerged until there was an opening big from him to enter. Sora crept in and entered Oblivion for the second time in his life. The big difference was that he was alone this time.

* * *

><p>The light beams flew through the air and shook the barrier made of a reflect spell that X'ero had cast to protect the group. X'ero grimaced, but kept the barrier up. Both she and the knight, however, knew that she could not withstand the attacks for long. X'ero glanced at Saïx, she would guess that he too knew the limit to her stamina.<p>

"Why do you attack us?" She asked the knight. "You claim to fight for justice, to rid the worlds of evil, do you not? Then why attack me instead of helping the keyblade master?"

"He has refused our help."

"Then go after Nihil! She's here too and she's worse than me."

"In order to defeat darkness, one must start where it is weakest."

"I'm not weakest!" X'ero irritated said. "I'm just different than Nihil, and in any case it has nothing to do with the Organization."

An armoured finger was pointed in Saïx direction.

"The Organization showed its true colour the moment he brought you under its protection. Besides I have checked. The Organisation manipulates the inhabitants of the worlds it enters, and it pursues its goal without regards to the safety of anyone on its path."

"You are no better!" X'ero said. "You trashed Traverse Town for no good reason, and don't even get me started on the Coliseum."

"I fight for justice. It is impossible to win without sacrifices."

"We have a _right_ to be whole again." Saïx interrupted. "We are not to blame for losing our hearts." He looked around. "At least no one here is. _We_ did not ask to be killed by monsters. _We _did not play with our hearts. _We_ didn't do anything to deserve this fate..." Saïx stopped when he felt four pairs of eyes on him. He realized what exactly he was implying, and quickly waved a dismissive hand in the air. "Not that I'm bitter towards Xemnas and the rest."

Luxord shook his head. "Don't worry. Politics is a game I do not want to play."

Larxene smirked, and Demyx just looked confused.

X'ero ignored what Saïx had said and focused on the much more pressing situation.

"Prepare yourself. My reflect spell is not meant to be extended – it will break soon." She warned.

Luxord immediately dropped Larxene to the ground.

"Sorry." He said. "But you are not really on top of your game." Human sized cards circled around Larxene and suddenly she was gone, trapped in a time pocket.

"Time magic..." X'ero stated. "You got to teach me some tricks sometime."

"No luck, lass." The card flew in front of Luxord as a shield. "I never reveal the aces in my sleeve."

Beside her Saïx had summoned his claymore in spite of his earlier injury and even Demyx looked ready to fight.

"The barrier is going to break in 3...2...1... Now!" The barrier spell shattered, but X'ero already had the next spell ready.

"Double Aeroga!"

The wind spell blew the hounds into tiny keys and a lot of the key was shattered when Saïx slammed his weapon into the ground creating shockwaves and Demyx surfed over them with one of his waves. At the same time Luxord was trying his best to trap the knight in a dice form, but the knight broke out of it easily.

The Light Hounds were already reforming. There were too many of them to defeat, but they couldn't retreat with the knight there to follow them. X'ero desperately tried to think of a solution as she prepared another spell for the dogs. After all she was weaker to an attack of the light beams than the others.

Saïx suddenly rushed past her and the dogs, who still were charging up. They immediately turned their head towards Saïx to protect their master.

"Watch out!" X'ero screamed, but it seemed that the warning was unnecessary.

Saïx threw himself to the ground. He had never intended to fight attack the knight in the first place. The beams pierced through the air over him and most of them continued and hit the knight in the chest. He was thrown backwards by the force and hit the ground with a metallic hollow sound. Without a command the dogs spread out and disappeared in the horizon in confusion.

Saïx got up and dusted invisible dirt of the cloak.

"When you get attacked by an enemy enough you learn their attack pattern." He said to X'ero, sounding smug.

"As if you have time to notice that when you swing that sword of yours around..." Despite her words X'ero was relieved and grateful.

"Did we kill him?" Demyx asked edging a bit closer to the amour.

Saïx looked at X'ero, expecting an answer.

"It almost seems too easy if he died." She said. "On the other hand I have never seen the keyblade monsters so uncontrolled, and their beam is quite strong - perhaps even strong enough to take out the knights."

"He's not moving." Demyx said as he tryingly pushed a little to the armour with a foot. "Did we really win?"

No one answered, no one was entirely sure.

"Let's not gamble." Luxord said to Saïx. "I will release Larxene so we can get back to the Organisation."

Saïx nodded, but before they had time to do anything the female knight suddenly appeared behind Demyx and grabbed him in a choke-hold. Demyx tried to struggle free but the other knight was surprisingly strong.

"Ah... Let go of me!"

"No! I will do anything to support my friends." She held out and armoured hand. "Curega!"

The flower surrounded by green light appeared over the body of the male knight for a second. X'ero definitely saw one of his fingers moving.

"She is reviving him." X'ero simply stated.

"Can she do that?" Luxord asked.

"If my theory is right: Yes."

Saïx sighed as he held out his hand and began his weapon summoning:

"Someday, X'ero, you've got to tell us everything you know." Saïx swung the claymore back ready to attack.

"You truly (Curega!) are ruthless creatures (Curega!)." The female knight kept up her healing even when speaking to Saïx. Unfortunately Demyx's brain chose just that moment to start working and he realized that the only way for Saïx to attack the knight was to cut through Demyx.

"No, you mustn't! We are on the same side!"

Saïx didn't say anything, but there was no mercy in his cold eyes. Demyx turned his plea to Luxord:

"We are a team right. You'll help."

Luxord looked uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry...but Saïx is the official right hand man, I can't disobey him." Demyx turned his eyes towards X'ero, but quickly looked away. "You just think I'm an idiot." He mumbled it high enough for everyone to hear it.

X'ero moved uncomfortably. It was logical thing to do. Demyx was not the most powerful member in the Organization and if they could stop the knight from being revived it was worth it... right? For some reason X'ero was in doubt.

"It is futile (Curega!) to ask you colleges for mercy. (Curega!) They are as heartless as you. (Curega!)" It was obvious that the female knight was stalling for time.

"But I have emotions too!" Demyx protested.

"That is exactly why you are so useless!" Saïx irritated said. "If you can't even understand the basic facts of being a Nonbody we have no need for you!" Saïx prepared to charge when X'ero suddenly step in front of him.

"Wait!" she said. "Look at Demyx!"

Demyx had stopped yanking in the knight's arm to escape. His hands fell limp down. Water was beginning to form around them.

"It is not fair!" Demyx said. The tone of his voice sounded so unlike Demyx. It was cold and harsh. If X'ero didn't knew it was impossible she would say that Demyx was angry. Not the kind of heated anger that suddenly erupted out of nowhere – No it was the kind of anger that slowly freezes over the soul when a person suddenly have enough of being looked down at. The water now covered Demyx entire body and forced the knight to release her grip. Of course that should be enough for Saïx to stop threatening Demyx, but Saïx just shifted to a defensive stance. Luxord and X'ero summoned their weapon and did the same.

"I don't want to be thrown away again!" Demyx shouted. "I know what you did last time!"

"Stop acting foolish!" Saïx tried to talk Demyx down, but it was clear that for once Demyx was beyond any threat Saïx could make. There was just no reaching the water user anymore. The strange rhythmic sound of a sitar began to pulsate through the water. The other three Nobodies backed away, unsure of what was happening. Even the knight had stopped her healing, as hypnotized by the event as the others.

"Is that the suicide attack thing we can do?" Luxord asked Saïx.

"I don't know. He is not really attacking us."

"He is turning all his energy inwards." X'ero said. Like the other two she was fixated on water-covered Demyx. Her scanning ability told her that Demyx's stamina was increasing rapidly and she considered going into her limit form so she better could see what it was he was doing, but something about this scared her.

"I've become a musician..." Demyx stated. The pulsating music in the water grew louder as the air around them began to become more humid. "And everyone knows that true music comes from the heart!"

No one had time to say anything because of the huge tidal waves which suddenly washed everything away.

* * *

><p>Sora was convinced that white walls inside the strange castle were trying to body slam him. What else could explain the fact that large parts of the walls suddenly flew loose and tried to flatten him, so it was with relief that Sora reached the end of the hallway he was currently in. He tried to take the doorknob and open the door, but an electric shock ran through him as soon as he touched it.<p>

"Ow!" Sora shook his hand. "No fair."

A sudden drop in temperature warned him that something new was happening yet again. A blizzaga spell was seeping out from every one of the newly formed holes in the walls, freezing everything over in its way towards him. Sora used his keyblade to first unlock the door and then bash it open. He entered a room with stairs going upward. Sora hung his head. He had lost count on just how many times he had had to walk up or down a staircase since he had entered.

"Need a hand?" Axel appeared through a dark portal. "You are completely lost without me, aren't you?"

"Axel, do you know where we are?"

"You can't remember? This is castle where we first became buddies." Axel grinned when he saw how confused Sora looked and gave him a friendly shove to the shoulder. "I'm just messing around. You can really have the same dumb look as Roxas." Axel paused for a moment as nostalgia came over him. "Anyway... I have hung around this castle a lot, so I figured I could help a little."

"That great!" Sora said. "I really need to talk to that person. After what happened to Kai... I just need to see her."

"Well I know where she hung out, so we could go there, but we shouldn't hang around here too much. Last time I checked outside this castle was growing wings."

"Wings?"

Almost as if the castle wanted to prove Axel words, it shook ominously. The two inside decided to hurry up. They didn't which to be inside if the castle suddenly decided to develop a flying ability.

The black portal led Sora and Axel to the bottom of the room that Nihil had overlooked from the balcony, but instead of being filled with heartless a vortex of black feathers was stretching upwards as long as the eye could follow.

"I think this is the one you have to hit!"

Axel had a point, and since Sora always had been quick to act he summoned his keyblade and tried to brave vortex. The feathers tickled his skin and made him sneeze as some of the small downs found the way into his nose. As Sora walk through the moving feather wall he suddenly felt some strange unfamiliar emotion: Alone, hated, inhuman. What where those feathers made of?

Then it was over he had braved the feathers and had entered the eye of the storm – so to speak. Since he was now surrounded by the feathers Sora looked the only feather free way he could think of: Up!

A black and green chain hovered in the air over him, bound together in a circle with darkness forming from the middle. Keyblades were always good against darkness so Sora decided to use the easy solution and tried to 'unlock' darkness in the chain circle.

A click sounded, meaning that Sora had hid something. Then everything got wild. The feathers all fell down on top of him and to make it worse the ominous rumble, that had started before they entered the room, grew louder. Then the castle imploded, everything began to fall inwards towards the room Sora was standing in.

Axel dodged a falling pillar, grabbed Sora by his collar and threw him through a portal just as the loft came down. On the other side of the black portal Sora landed on top of Donald and Goofy.

"Sora!" Donald clubbed him before hugging him. "Don't go without us."

"We were really worried." Goofy added.

Sora looked at the dust sky Oblivion was crumbling into.

"Axel is still inside. We have to help him."

"Don't worry about him." Goofy said. "He always gets away."

Sora guessed that Goofy was right. Beside there was another big problem. As the dark aura slowly vanished from the rubble so did the heartless. Sora had unchained the heartless from the darkness of Nihil, but it also counted as a defeat by keyblade and the many hearts stolen by the heartless floated upwards and disappeared.

Sora reached out for them even though he knew that he could not prevent the hearts from joining Kingdom Hearts. A clapping sound behind him disturbed Sora.

"Bravo!" Xemnas said, appearing. "You have truly given us a massive boost to our Kingdon Hearts."

"I will stop you right now!" Sora said and charged at Xemnas with the keyblade in hand.

"Don't run ahead." Donald tried to prevent Sora from rushing in to battle and ended up tripping them both. They fell into Goofy and somehow did the trio of heroes succeed in rolling into the black portal Xemnas had entered through.

"...Perhaps I should have closed that." Xemnas said to himself as the three heroes disappeared. The truth was that he never would be able to understand Sora, Donald and Goofy.

"Yo, boss!" Xigbar appeared. "Zexion have located the rest - that is if you are finish tormenting the good guys."

"What is the status?"

Xigbar laughed:

"Oh... you are going to like this one: Apparently Demyx somehow ended up knocking everyone but Larxene out, and that's only because Luxord had her trapped in one of his card-time-pockets at the time."

"How did that happen?"

"I don't know but Zexion said – and I'm quoting him: That Demyx smells stronger than usual." Xigbar suddenly snapped his finger. "On last thing: When we went to get the others. We saw a lot of those Light Hounds running around, since they had no master Xalding went and grabbed one."

Xemnas smirked:

"Vexen can properly find out something to use it for." Xemnas turned towards the rubble and spread his arms out. "Look at all those hearts floating to join my Kingdom Hearts. We got so much closer to our goal today not to mention that we captured a sample of our enemies. This time we will succeed. I know it."

* * *

><p>Nihil watched the Nobodies leave the realm from a safe distance. Sora might had been her original interest, but when her nobody and her colleges had encountered the armoured monsters, Nihil had lost a little of her interest in Sora. To think that all that was left of her world where two Nobodies, herself and those... things. How had it come to this?<p>

She had also watched as the water user suddenly had changed. With her scanning system broken she wasn't sure exactly what had happen, but she had seen him knock the other Nobodies out and flood the two armoured knights away.

Nihil carefully dipped a cloth in an elixir and then pressed the cloth to her eye. She grimaced at the stinging pain. Next time she met that berserker...

"Found you!"

Not very surprising did Axel choose to appear. He had apparently not been killed yet.

"Whoa!" He said as he saw her face. "What happened?"

"Your ex-friend happened!"

Axel rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm not responsible for him you know."

"I never said you were. Why are you here?"

"We need to talk: What did you do to Sora?"

"I killed that girl. The princess..." Nihil turned towards Axel with her eerie smile on. "Does that make us enemies now? Do you wish to fight?" She stood up, when Axel for once was silent. "Because I'm busy if you don't! You see I've finally found it."

"Found what?"

Her healthy brown eye for once seemed lively and her grin grew, if possible, even more ominous:

"An enemy!"

* * *

><p>Ns: And with this the Oblivion-arc is over which means that the next arc is... orginally this chapter was hell for me to write, but now I don't think that it is <em>that<em> bad.


	30. Chapter 30:Questions

Ns: The next bunch of chapters. I am actually kind of sick an should stay in my bed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 30: Questions<strong>

The cold crept over X'ero's body and made her skin crawl. She involuntary shivered and instinctively opened her eyes to find the source of the cold. The white walls, the oversized furniture, there was no doubt that she had been moved back to the Castle that Never Was. The source of the cold was also easy to identify, X'ero was so thoroughly soaked that she was sure that she didn't have one piece of dry clothing on her body.

"You are looking cold." A voice right behind her said. X'ero recognized the voice, how couldn't she?

"Zexion..." She stated. "You are awake." Her face fell a little. "But I wanted to be there when you woke up -Not the other way around."

"I know." Zexion said. "Your smell was lingering everywhere in my room."

"Really?"

"And of course there are all the poison bottles that have mysteriously found their way to my desk."

Even though she was cold and properly should get into a dry pair of clothes X'ero's mind was in a weird state of being relieved by hearing the voice of Zexion and seeing that his eyes had not lost their intense blue colour. A part of her had feared that he perhaps would wake up altered.

"It is good to see you up. But..." X'ero said as she looked at the notes Zexion was taking. "What exactly are you writing down?"

"I'm in charge of monitoring your health. It's a boring task, considering that most serious injury is Larxene's sprained ankle, but I volunteered because I need to ask..."

The curtains separating X'ero's bed from the rest of the beds in the infirmary were violently torn aside and Saïx appeared, unlike her he had obviously had the time to change into a dry cloak. He looked coldly at Zexion.

"Xemnas ordered me to take X'ero to him as soon as she woke up and was checked up on."

"I know."

"Then why are you two still chatting?"

Zexion tapped the pencil against the note block to show that he was doing the check up.

"It's called multitasking. You know some people, especially intelligent ones, are capable of doing more than one thing on the same time."

"Don't take all day." Saïx's eyes briefly flicked to X'ero – only for a second or so, before he disappeared on the other side of the curtain again.

The notion hadn't gone unnoticed by Zexion, the pencil tapped a little faster against the writing block.

"What was that all about?" He asked.

X'ero shrugged:

"Don't know and don't care. It is not my problem that the two of you are still trying to kill each other."

Zexion looked seriously at her.

"X'ero..." He said. "I need to know every little thing Saïx have done and said to you, while I was sleeping, but before that you will tell me what you were doing at Oblivion."

"..." Her silence was a bad omen.

"Have you already forgotten?" Zexion placed one of his hands on top of hers. "You promised me that I could help you with your other, but you still neglect to tell me the most important details. There is already a rumour going around that Nihil killed Marluxia with a keyblade."

"..."

"We have played chess a couple of time, right?"

X'ero was surprised by the random change of topics and was convinced that Zexion was trying to trick information out of her, but she still played along.

"Not very often – You know that I am a sore loser."

"I just wanted to make sure you would understand this metaphor. You can say that life is like a chess board. You yourself would be the king on the board and the whole purpose of the game is to keep the king alive..." Zexion looked at X'ero to be sure that she was following him. "The people you know they are they your pawns. Little pieces you can influence and manipulate to do the king's bidding. How do you think the king would do if he was the only one on the board?"

"The king alone would be quite vulnerable. In fact it is not possible to win with only a king." X'ero began having a sneaking suspicion where Zexion was going with this.

"Pawns are people you only just know, so you can only move them a little at the time. They are useful but you need knights, bishops, rooks and the queen as well. They are the people whose strengths and weaknesses you know well and thus are capable of moving in different patterns..." Zexion closed his hands around the pencil. "On my chess board... What role do you think you have?"

"I don't know."

Zexion pressed the hand with the pencil against one of X'ero's, transferring the writing object over in the process. X'ero opened her hand to find a chess queen instead of the pencil – obviously one of her friend's illusions.

"The queen...really?"

"It was not to be cheesy or anything!" Zexion quickly said when he heard X'ero's tone.

"Cheesy?" X'ero looked at the pencil-turned-chess-piece and tried to figure out the connection with cheese.

"A queen is the piece that can move in all direction. My colleagues...if I ever were to manipulate them, I would have to be damn sure they doesn't find out. That's why there's a restriction on them, but you... Even if you find out the lowest of my plans, the deepest of my secret, I have faith that you'll accept it and stay loyal to me. That's why I can trust you to the degree where I can move you freely around in my life."

"Are you giving me a compliment or saying that I'm easy to manipulate?" X'ero asked.

Zexion smiled:

"Both. What I'm trying to say is, I wish you would trust me to accept you no matter what you do or what you think you are. Why don't you trust me to that degree?"

X'ero opened her mouth to come with all sorts of excuses that all boiled down to the fact that she didn't knew how to trust that way, but Zexion silence her with a finger before she had the chance.

"Think about it okay? Besides you better go and meet Xemnas, we can't have Saïx thinking that I'm keeping you here just to irritate him. We'll talk later. I still have a lot of catching up to do."

X'ero nodded and quickly left the room.

* * *

><p>The gentle light from the gigantic heart shone down on the altar. Kingdom Hearts had finally appeared on the dark sky again, and even though there still was a long way for them to go before it was completed, it boosted Xemnas' mood considerably. The dark witch had been an enormous help – even if she hadn't intended to. Two dark portals materialized and X'ero and Saïx stepped through.<p>

"Sorry we are late." Saïx said. "Someone took a long time to change."

The green haired magician ignored her partner and simple stood there in silence, watching Xemnas with her visible eyes. She seemed guarded.

"Number XV... X'ero. Saïx have already given me a report on the events at Oblivion. We are here because there are things we must discuss."

"Like what?"

Xemnas decided that he didn't care much about X'ero's tone of voice. It sounded like she didn't have much respect for his authority.

"Let's start with the way Marluxia faded: Why haven't you informed anyone about your other's keyblade?"

"...I don't have a keyblade, and I have no idea how Nihil got hers."

Beside her Saïx quietly nodded as to confirm X'ero's statement. Xemnas didn't believe her, but the firm look of defiance in the eye of the witch told Xemnas that it wouldn't be easy to get an answer out her.

"You do understand how important keyblades are to us?"

X'ero trailed the heart in the sky with her eye.

"Because of that thing..." She said. "Nihil didn't have a keyblade _before_ I was created and you can't expect me to know anything about the after."

Xemnas realized that this was a losing battle, the girl would not tell anything and from what Saïx had told him, she could not be intimidated.

"Then let's change the topics. As Zexion properly have told you we Nobodies aren't supposed to exist. The existence you have and the existence Nihil have is one and the same. That's why it shouldn't be possible for you to be so physically close to your other without the two of you being gradually merged together again. Have you any idea why that didn't happen?"

"It's hard to explain." The witch looked down at her hand as if to confirm that they were there. "It was just as if we suddenly were... incompatible. As it we didn't fit."

"From where I was standing it looked like you suddenly repelled each other." Saïx added.

"That is possible. At the time I was more focused on getting Nihil of me, than having deep existential thoughts." X'ero admitted with a shrug. "I just don't want to be Nihil, perhaps that was enough?"

"All right you are dismissed."

For a moment X'ero was surprised that it went so easy, but she was not about to protest because she got easy off the hook and thus quickly excused herself.

Xemnas looked at Saïx, when X'ero was gone.

"Don't let her out of your sight for the next few days, until we are sure she hasn't changed. The meeting with her other is of concern. I won't lose such an accomplished wielder of darkness."

"Understood."

* * *

><p>With Vexen and Zexion running tests on Demyx it was impossible for X'ero and Larxene to use his quarters as a hideout and thus they had placed themselves in the Grey Room to discuss the next step. Of course this limited what could be said. Perhaps that was a good thing, since Larxene wasn't as loud as usual, and seemed to be in a bad mood.<p>

"That jerk!" The thunder user suddenly said out in the blue. "How dare he fade first? I hadn't even finished arguing with him." Larxene slammed a fist into one of the couch cushions. "It is the meaning that the damn henchman dies first – Not the leader!"

"I'm sorry!" X'ero said. "You are welcome to kill my other if you ever come across her."

"Oh... I will, but what I'm supposed to do now?"

"Don't you already know?"

Larxene shook her head:

"Can you seriously see me take Marluxia's place?"

X'ero had to admit that she couldn't see that - Larxene was no leader.

"Besides..." Larxene continued "It is not much of a rebellion with only one person."

X'ero looked at Larxene half in astonishment. She has never thought of it before, but so much of Larxene's identity depended on being the minion of Marluxia, to think that it was possible to be so dependent on another and still be so... Larxene.

"Did you know each other before becoming Nobodies?"

"Nah... We just both agreed on not liking Xemnas."

Larxene looked at X'ero there was an unspoken question between them. Why X'ero has joined up? But Larxene couldn't voice the question out loud do to their location and X'ero was especially good at not hearing unspoken question on, she didn't care to answer.

"You know, Marluxia did tell me one interesting thing." Larxene's voice lowered to a whisper. "That there is some kind of power struggle between Saïx and Zexion."

"They are not the best of friends." That was properly the understatement of the year. "But it is not really my problem."

Suddenly Larxene hit X'ero on top of the head with a fisted hand. X'ero was so surprised that she didn't even register the pain.

"What the...?"

"Are you stupid or something? It is _so_ your problem. You'll get caught in the middle. No stretch that. You are in the middle!"

"I don't think it's so serious."

"Are you not friends with Zexion? And Saïx is not even hiding that he is into you, have you ever thought about why. I bet that he's trying to get to you to get back at Zexion. That would be such a typical... male thing to do."

X'ero shook her head. She realized that she wasn't going to make Larxene give up unless X'ero told her some part of the truth.

"No one has ever seen me as a girl."

Larxene gave X'ero a really disbelieving look and the next thing X'ero knew she was being dragged out of the room by a limping Larxene. X'ero didn't like the evil grin on Larxene's face. It was clear that the other girl had decided to mess something up.

They stopped before the tombstone of the Lunar Diviner – Saïx's tombstone. That couldn't be good.

"Please don't do this." X'ero desperately tried to stop Larxene. There was no way for her to explain to the other girl how it was to be thought of as something less than a person. X'ero considered herself lucky that the rest of the Nobodies saw her as an equal being, she knew that no one would think of her as a girl, she didn't want to bring unpleasant memories of being unaccepted into her head, she didn't need it confirmed, but Larxene only took pleasure in X'ero's discomfort and violently knocked on Saïx tombstone.

The berserker appeared looking irritated.

"What is it?" He asked with crossed arms.

"I was just thinking about something really important."

Saïx looked from Larxene to X'ero , who was trying to get away, to Larxene again.

"Looks normal to me." He turned around to go into his rooms again.

"But it's about X'ero."

Saïx immediately turned back to them.

"See," Larxene said. "He listens as soon as it is about you."

"Of course I do." Saïx said coldly. "I'm responsible for her."

"So what do you see X'ero as?"

"As X'ero of course."

"Yes, I know. And you also see her as a Nobody and a magician. Let's cut to the important part. Do you see her as a girl or not?"

Saïx eyes narrowed. What was Larxene up to?

"Are you trying to suggest that I cannot see the difference between the genders?"

Larxene smiled as if she finally had won a bet that has been going on for too long.

"I don't doubt that you can see the difference. In fact I think you think of X'ero as a girl quite a lot, am I right? How was it I worded it back in the infirmary? 'Her body beneath yours, the feeling of her lips on your skin...'" Larxene stopped her recollection since she was not suicidal and it was clear from the expression of the other two that they remembered the conversation and were willing to do a lot to stop her. "Anyway, that is how you think of X'ero as a girl, is it not?"

Inwardly Saïx cursed. Larxene really had him. It was true that he did think of X'ero like that, but he did not want to tell her with Larxene there to make it even more twisted than it was, but if he denied it... His eyes went to X'ero.

He was convinced that if he lied now it would be almost impossible for him to tear down the wall of obliviousness that X'ero surrounded herself with. She would forever continue with the misinterpretation.

"…Larxene is speaking the truth." Saïx said. Those were perhaps there hardest words to ever cross his lips. X'ero finally managed to tear herself away from Larxene in shock.

"No!" X'ero said. "That is a lie! I can't… I can't…" X'ero raised her hand, it was trembling noticeably. One of the black portals formed around it. "I can't accept it! I won't believe it!" X'ero staggered backwards and sort of melted into her own portal. It closed before Saïx had time to follow and the only thing left in the room was the laughter of Larxene.

"What a priceless, funny scene that was."

"You are dead." Saïx said.

"Perhaps you should worry more about X'ero and less about me?" Larxene suggested. "Because I think you just broke her."

Saïx thought so too. And what worse was, Xemnas had told Saïx not to let X'ero out of his sight for some time. If X'ero disappeared for days, Saïx would be failing his duty considerably. That was _if_ X'ero even came back.

Larxene's laughter had finally quieted down only to give room to a cruel smile.

"I think I'll tell Zexion about this." She said. "Saïx scared X'ero so much that she ran away from the Organization. That's a good version of it? Don't you think?"

Saïx took advantage of the fact that Larxene wasn't as quick as usual and grabbed her by the hood, bashing her head hard against the nearest tombstone. She lost her consciousness immediately. He quickly threw the limp body into his room, hoping that she wouldn't wake up for some time.

That bought a little time, but he had to find X'ero before Larxene woke up and told everyone that he had let X'ero flee the Organization.

* * *

><p>Ns: She did not take that well.<p>

X'ero (Still mumbles to herself): I refuse to believe it.

Zexion: I just woke up and I want to spend some time with X'ero. You better fix this Ns.

Ns:


	31. Chapter 31: Flight

Ns:

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 31: Flight<strong>

Eighteen year old Nihil was sitting on table in her room with her back against the wall, reading in a heavy book with colourful pages. Occasionally her right hand would draw a pentagram she saw in the book. She was so absorbed in her work that she didn't hear (or ignored) her birds at the entrance to her room scream up in a warning. Her self-proclaimed benefactor arrived in the room two minutes later, cursing over her aggressive protectors.

"Could you not tell your pets to stop attacking every time I try to walk in here?" He asked.

"Have you ever considered that your presence might be unwanted?" Nihil didn't look away from her work for a minute.

"We need to talk about the first captain." The man said. "That man is beginning to look into some of my experiments. I need him dead – _now_!"

"I won't attack a higher ranking with magic, and he's not stupid enough to be poisoned." She still didn't look up.

Irritated with the young woman's indifference to his problem the man strode across the room and took the book from the girl.

"What's so important that..." His eye caught the pictures in the book and being only a few years ahead of Nihil on the path to adulthood, he blushed. "Why are you studying these rituals?"

"It was you who said that I needed to stop creating echoes all the time."

On the other side of the door the birds screamed, reminding both of them of the brutal truth. He had injected magic directly into her heart, ensuring Nihil's survival and magical prowess, but the persons that had had their magic extracted had not survived and thus the basic of Nihil's magic, her true affinity so to speak, was that of sacrifice. A long time ago, somewhere in her childhood, it had disgusted Nihil so much that she had substituted sacrifice technique for another, but forbidden source of power: Darkness.

Nihil had found out that by sacrificing a bit of the light in her heart, the darkness would increase as would her magical prowess and it was not like the light had left her for all eternity. Trapped in a physical manifestation separate of her own body, a weak echo of the light in her heart would eternally linger.

The birds screamed once more. It all most sounded as if they were in pain

The man under the blue cloak handed the book back. Having known the girl for almost all of his and her life, he knew that the psyche of the witch where going in one direction: Down on the same road as her heart and into destruction.

"I thought you didn't do sacrificial rituals because they take too long and is unpractical in combat. I can't imagine that this kind of ritual is... more practical."

Nihil smiled.

"But it's magic! My kind of magic even." Her eye shone with something it rarely showed: Enthusiasm!

The two stared at each for a moment then Nihil returned to her book. She looked at the pictures thoughtful for a moment then her smile grew eerier as she looked up:

"I think I have an idea of how to deal with your troublesome captain."

* * *

><p>The grotesque town of Halloween, the re-flourished forest of Wonderland, the ruins of Traverse Town, Saïx had searched every world that X'ero might feel comfortable enough to hide in, and he had found no traces of her, which unfortunately left one world.<p>

Saïx pulled his hood up as if he tried to easier merge with the shadows and avoided at the same time the water where the moon was reflected. He had told X'ero that he did not like this world, so if she tried to avoid him it would be an obvious place, but still... Saïx tugged the hood a little further down and entered the witch's cottage... he really didn't like this world.

There were shells filled with bottles containing tings, which origin Saïx would rather not know and a slight smell of herbs. As soon as the owner of the cottage saw him she smiled a black smile and invaded his personal space.

"Two of the same group in one evening. I'm quite intrigued." Tia Dalma placed hand on Saïx's chest. "Are you here to retrieve you green haired colleague?"

"Where is she?"

Tia Dalma shook her head and placed herself comfortable on a chair.

"You are quite good looking under that hood my friend, but I'm afraid you cannot charm your way pass me. Your little green friend is much dearer to me."

Saïx pulled the hood down giving the witch his coldest glare.

"I don't do charms." He stated. "I'll force her location out of you if I have to."

The other just laughed.

"Do you think that she would have sought my help if I was a mere human?"

No, Saïx did not think that. His instinct told him that he should not work against this woman if he wanted the whereabouts of X'ero.

"Name your price."

Tia Dalma rose up and placed a cold hand on his cheek. It took all his willpower to not jerk away.

"Any price from such a handsome man. What an offer. Your kind is interesting and dangerous, but... " Tia Dalma's smile grew wider. "Magic is strong here, especially magic from other worlds, and you are not the only one trapped in a curse. She's helping me and I take her to a far away world without using the dark corridors."

There were an infinite number of worlds out there. If X'ero didn't travel through the dark corridors, then it would be impossible for even Xigbar to track her down again. It was clear that this other witch was dragging out time until X'ero had prepared whatever it was that needed preparing. Saïx freed himself from the woman by pushing her hard into the shelves. She screamed in protest and as he left Saïx was sure he heard a curse muttered after him.

* * *

><p>The numbers spoke and undeniable truth yet Vexen doubted said truth so much that he had asked for a second opinion.<p>

"Well..." Zexion compared Vexen's analysis of the data with his own analysis and there was no doubt that they were alike. "Demyx has always seemed unable to grasp even the basic concepts of being a Nobody."

"_That's _the best explanation you can think up? We are talking about a heart here!"

"Do you have a better one?"

"No..."

Both scientists looked at the sleeping boy with tired expressions, knowing that Xemnas expected a logical explanation of them.

"What bothers me is that he hasn't changed." Zexion said. "Did we not always theorize that we would return to our former bodies when our heart returned?"

"Do you mean to imply that it is not his original heart?"

Zexion nodded und suddenly Vexen's slightly insane grin appeared.

"I know how to test that."

He rushed out of the room, only to rush back ten minutes later with two injection syringes.

"I knew my old research where still around. This is some of my data samples from my two most successful clones."

"XIV and the Riku Replica... You plan to inject a light and dark element directly into Demyx." Zexion concluded.

"It will be interesting to see the reaction."

"Fine by me..." Zexion sat down by the computer and clicked on Demyx's data on the screen. With a hand wave, he signalled that he was ready. Vexen injected the elements and for two second the Demyx's stats increased incredibly then it died out.

"No lasting chances on his physical or his emotional profile!"

"Then we have to be wrong in our hypothesis." Vexen concluded.

"Not necessarily. What if Demyx somehow managed to make a heart out of the same material as we are made of."

"A heart of nothingness..." Vexen laughed. "Now that's interesting."

A knowing light burned in Zexion's eyes.

"I've have to go and checkup something, but I think that have a plausible theory as to how he did it."

* * *

><p>Zexion almost had a library instead of a training hall in his quarters, and a lot of those books were books on psychology. Ansem had insisted that Zexion studied psychology, because of his young age when he arrived to the castle, so he wouldn't be completely isolated in a lab without knowledge of other humans. The subject had caught his interest, perhaps an important factor in why he had been so engrossed in their studies of the heart that he had been more than willing to betray Ansem along with the rest of his colleagues.<p>

Zexion slammed one of the thick books together after finishing reading its content. His theory was certainly plausible. He blue eyes scanned over the rest of the books on the subject. He could in part see where X'ero going with her... disdain towards her lost heart. While the most of the Organisation had developed more or less obvious psychopathic tendencies in the process of losing their heart (a natural consequence of their much lesser capacity of empathy), they all had been given the option to think clearer, more logical – but it was not worth it, when they weren't whole persons. Was it?

The headache he had felt before falling asleep suddenly appeared again.

_"I admit that my mistress is sick to the core of her hear, but even the most logical creature has a hint of that sickness."_

The voice from the feather stuck in his mind as an echo he could shake off. Zexion reminded himself that it was still too early for him to be straining himself with complicated theories. He had just woken up. He could theorize later when everything was back on the usual path. He was about to return to the lab when it suddenly sounded like someone was kicking on his tombstone. He easily recognized the smell of electricity.

"Come in, Larxene!" He said - a little bit curious as to what the other wanted. "Has it something to do with X'ero?" He guessed at the most obvious thing they had in coming.

"You are good." Larxene smirked, but quickly grimaced in pain as she rubbed the back of her head. "That son of a..."

"I thought it was only your leg that was wounded."

"It was - untill someone decided to bash my head against one of the tombstones."

Zexion eyebrows rose, somehow he could easily imagine who could be brutal enough to do that. He folded his hands together and rested his elbows on one of his thicker books. He could use this.

"You better tell me everything, Larxene and be warned: I will not tolerate any lies."

* * *

><p>It was highly suspicious why Luxord knew of this island which pirates apparently regularly frequented, but Saïx didn't knew how else he should track X'ero down. Luxord had heard about Tia Dalma from someone here, and if Saïx could figure out what Tia Dalma was, then perhaps he could figure out where X'ero had gone to 'release' the other witch. The problem was who of these lowlifes he should beat the information out of. An interesting piece of conversation was caught by Saïx sharp ears.<p>

"Yeah, a real exotic piece: Under the dark cloak was a slender fragile frame, unusual glowing eyes and the hair... such a soft green. Not a beauty, you know, but definitely exotic." The owner of the voice was folding a black cloth together. "Dangerous though, you could see it in her eyes. The kind that will eat you up unless you have the balls to tame her...!" The tale was suddenly interrupted when the storyteller was shoved against a wall with a gigantic sword pressed against his throat. Saïx tore the black cloth out of the other man's hand. As he had suspected it was the characteristic cloak of the Organization.

"Where did you get this?"

"It was a legal trade." The man protested. Saïx highly doubted that anything on this island was done legally.

"You _don't _wish to irritate me."

The other swallowed.

"I didn't know she was your woman. She just traded this cloak and a lot of munny for some other clothes and vials with blood."

Blood? What kind of shop was the sorry excuse for a man running?

"Where is she?"

"She asked me if I knew any desolated island..."

"Coordinates!"

The man feverishly nodded (as well as it possible to nod with a sword pressed against the throat.) and gave Saïx the precise location, as Saïx dropped him to the ground the shady vendor apparently thought he would salvage a bit of his honour.

"You might act all though, but what kind of man are you if you can't even handle one lass?"

It was only because Saïx was pressed for time that the life of the useless man was spared. His fist clenched as he passed through the dark corridor. X'ero was more than capable of handling herself. In fact she was so capable that she was in for a quite a speech for this little flight attempt - once he found her.

* * *

><p>The island was more a rock than an actual island, consisting of mostly sand and stone. It also made easy to spot X'ero even in the half dark. She was sitting on sand in the beach. It worried Saïx, he had sort of expected her to be in the middle of some creepy magic ritual to free Tia Dalma - not sitting on a beach peacefully watching the waves. Saïx walked up to X'ero.<p>

"You are overreacting!" He said.

X'ero looked up, her orange eye glowing.

"What a nice way to say good day – or perhaps good evening would be more fitting in this world?"

Saïx automatically looked up, but it was clouded, which was actually a good thing in this world. X'ero rose up from her sitting position and walked close to him. It was first now that Saïx realized what exactly it was X'ero was wearing. When the vendor had mentioned that X'ero had bought a dress, Saïx had assumed she had bought a dress in the old fashioned style that was common here, but it looked like she was wearing a large t-shirt, without sleeves and no longer than the cloth barely reached her hips.

"What in Kingdom Hearts is it that you are wearing?"

"I can't really enter a new world in a cloak that screams: I belong to an evil organization, and since I had to buy some other... stuff, I thought that I could buy a new dress as well. The vendor only had a full slip – does it look that bad?"

It didn't look bad at all. It was just really generous in showing her curves and skin. Saïx could swear that it was a little too short.

"... This is not really the situation to be wearing such a dress. Get into you cloak and stop this charade! If not I will beat you up until you are unconscious and drag you back."

X'ero's disaster-smile appeared and she took a step closer to him:

"I'm not one to be intimidated, and you will not change my mind."

Before he could stop himself Saïx reached out and brushed the long side of her green hair behind her ear.

"We don't have to fight. There is nothing to be scared of. If I wanted to hurt you I would use a much more direct method. We'll just go back before anyone finds out and then discuss..."

Saïx stopped talking when he realized what he was doing. Why the hell was he trying to discuss it with her? He was her superior in both ranking and physical strength. He should just force her back and then sort the issues out. It was not like he wanted and equal relationship with her. He wanted to own her in every possible way, to break the fake bond between her and Zexion. He should stop constantly trying to figure out what X'ero thought about it. Her opinion was not needed.

X'ero had placed her hand on his shoulder and lightly leant up against him to whisper in his ear:

"There is nothing to discuss. I never said 'no' did I?" X'ero slipped back to her heels again.

It took some seconds for the meaning of her words to sink into his brain and even then all he could say was:

"What?"

X'ero sighed as she played with the long side of her hair:

"I don't do the whole hinting thing well. We were apparently more direct about the subject of sex in my world, but if you truly see me as a girl...woman then you'll prove it right now. Perhaps I'll even think about coming back without trouble."

Saïx searched X'ero's face for any hint of a lie, but he could not find anything. Yet he knew that if she truly wanted to she could lie with a straight face. Saïx looked at X'ero. The sorry excuse of a dress that showed her figure all too willingly, the fact that she seemingly had been waiting for him, he was being played. All his instinct told him that it was a trap, a trap that somehow involved the blood she had purchased so it couldn't be healthy for him.

"X'ero, I don't think now is..."

All his reservations, all the warnings of his instincts were drowned when X'ero kissed him.

* * *

><p>Ns (Sweatdrop): Uh…<p> 


	32. Chapter 32: A New Path

Ns: After much debate with myself I have decided that this is the final chapter today.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 32: A new path<strong>

The sensation of her skin under his hand wrapped his brain in a haze of lust as he followed her spine with his thumb, down between her shoulder blades to her bra which he easily unhooked. The small piece of cloth fell down in the narrow gap of air there still was between their bodies. That wouldn't do. Saïx roughly tugged in X'ero's body so she fell against him. Because he too was mostly stripped of his clothes, he could feel not just her hands, but her breast as well as he pressed their bodies together. Where their skin touched, he felt an oddly intoxicating, burning sensation. Saïx could not remember when he last had been so overly attuned to a girls touch.

X'ero too was affected, but he was not sure it was in a good way. As he had closed the small gap between them he had also felt X'ero tense – no rather stiffen under his touch. Saïx entangled his fingers in the long side of her hair until he had a firm grip on the soft green material. He forced her head backwards to look at her. X'ero quickly masked it, but Saïx had seen the short flash of pain and hesitation in her orange eyes. The haze in his mind was thinning out as his survival instinct kicked in. X'ero was forcing herself. She was plotting something. No matter how much he wanted to go through with this he couldn't do it before he had full control of the situation. With his free hand, Saïx intertwined their fingers and then proceeded to squeeze her hand until the bones in it made a crunching sound.

X'ero winched:

"Saïx…"

"Nice try!" If he added more pressure he would break the bones in her hand. "But I'm not falling for such a low trick. Whatever it is you are up to…"

Even though he was hurting her, that cursed smile of X'ero's appeared and from the corner of his eye he saw her summon her glove in her free hand. If she unleashed a spell at him at such close proximity it would be really bad, so Saïx freed his other hand from her hair to the catch the gloved hand before it was too late, but no matter how fast he was he couldn't prevent X'ero from slightly grazing his cheek with the darkness.

Saïx didn't know what he should have expected, but not this: Power surged through his body as his rage increased, but at the same time he began to feel oddly tired. He looked down at himself and saw that his whole body was covered in a dark energy. It took him a few seconds to realize that the darkness came from within him.

The moment he had lost his heart suddenly came to mind. He would never forget the anger and frustration he had felt in the moment he had realized that not just had he been separated from his friend he was also slowly being overpowered by strange monsters. He had opened his heart then – to the darkness. After all he had been desperate for any sort of power that could save him and angry with the unfairness of the situation. His berserker abilities were the result of that: A gift and a curse of the darkness, and now it almost felt like X'ero was touching that power deep within him, touching it and tugging in it as if to pull it out of him by force.

Saïx backed away from X'ero while he fought to quell his rage. He instinctively knew that if he went berserk that would be it. She would extract his ability and since a Nobody's power was the core of their being he would not survive. He looked down as he backed away and noticed the pattern drawn of the beach in blood. He didn't know much about magical symbols but he recognized a pentagram when he saw it. X'ero made some kind of movement he didn't see clearly and the red pattern lifted from the sand and surrounded him as the dark energy seeping from his body began to fuse with the now floating pattern. Saïx couldn't help but roar as it felt like his inside was being torn out.

"It's your own fault it hurts. If you had let me complete the ritual with the other method, you wouldn't have noticed it. It would have been painless."

His fault? _His_ fault? In that second Saïx completely gave up on fighting his rage instinct, and he felt his body lifting in the air in the final stage before going berserk as his mind went blank with pain.

* * *

><p>Every muscle in her body felt like it was drowning lactic acid so she had no choice but to rest up against the white wall. X'ero briefly closed her eyes. Why had she done it again? Why had she hesitated? X'ero sighed as she removed herself from the wall. She didn't know the answer to that, but she had already known before Saïx had arrived that she wouldn't be able to kill him - At least not directly. That was why she had tried to trap Saïx in a sex ritual so she could extract his curse gradually without him noticing. Her previous experience with that sort of thing had taught her that males could do most of it themselves, and Saïx was the type that never stopped what he had started. Had her first plan succeeded, she would not have had the chance to hesitate. Why had Saïx begun to question her? Now more than ever she needed to leave the Organization. Saïx wasn't going to be happy when he woke up. She really needed to get away.<p>

Deciding that she had caught her breath X'ero lifted her hand to summon a way out once more, when the doors to the Grey Room opened revealing the last person she wanted to see right now.

"Zexion…" She said. Not sure what exactly she could say.

"X'ero…" Zexion looked around. "Where are you going?"

Her hand sunk back down. She could not leave with Zexion here:

"Nowhere…"

* * *

><p>About ten minutes later they were sitting in Zexion's room. X'ero had told Zexion everything that had happen – at least <em>almost<em> everything. How he had gotten it out of her, she would never know.

"So Tia Dalma _is_ the ocean, and in order for you to destroy the curse binding her in human form you had to release more magic at once than you is capable of?"

"I may have an unlimited resource of magical energy, but to cast a more powerful magic I need to release more darkness to generate more magical energy." X'ero looked away. "And power from darkness always comes with a price."

She could feel the darkness inside her, pressing against her mental barrier that kept her somewhat sane. For some reason the inner barrier felt more and more like a piece of wet paper with each day that passed.

"Killing Saïx by extracting his berserker abilities…" Zexion looked like his was savoring the idea. "I like that. It has a nice touch of irony, but I still think getting Xemnas to turn him into a dusk is the ultimate form of revenge." Zexion looked at X'ero with a smile. "You wouldn't mind if I remember your idea though? It's a nice plan B."

Actually some part of X'ero minded. She didn't like to be more involved than she already was.

"Suit yourself. Just don't ask me how to do it."

"I won't." Zexion sat beside her on the bed. "But we really need to talk about something else." X'ero looked at him. "It's about why you left. I'm not stupid you know. I think you have been looking for an excuse for leaving ever since Marluxia faded, and Saïx was just nice enough to provide one for you."

"How…?"

Cleary Zexion had hit bullseye.

"You almost had me, X'ero. I assumed that your reason for teaming up with Marluxia and Larxene was to kill Xemnas, but then I realized: You have always accepted the most negative aspects of people and rarely holds a grudge. It just doesn't seem like your style to go out of your way to kill someone. You are more the 'get the job done now or don't do it at all'-type. So I thought. What could you possible hate enough to put so much effort into destroying it? And the answer was quite clear: You really only hate your heart so you goal has to be Kingdom Hearts."

"No!" X'ero abruptly rose up. "I mean yes, I mean…" X'ero sat down again. "If Xemnas is like his other then he wouldn't understand. He wouldn't understand that someone could have another goal than his and he wouldn't have respected it if I had simply asked him not to give me my heart back. So I thought that if we had another leader, one who was in debt to me. That leader would accept my request and not give me my heart back, but now… There is no alternative to Xemnas now. If I stay I would have to destroy Kingdom Hearts, and I don't think…" X'ero rubbed the upper part of her arms as if she was freezing. "I don't think I have the right to rob you guys of your dream. So the best would be if I disappeared."

Zexion couldn't help it. His smile grew a little broader at X'ero's words.

"Deep down you is actually a nice person. You just need to lay off your need to kill people in order to accomplish your goal." The look X'ero sent him clearly told Zexion that his words weren't very convincing. "I'm going to tell you something. But you must promise me not to tell anyone else – especially Saïx. Only Xemnas, Vexen and I know this."

"I promise."

"Demyx has created a heart."

"What?" X'ero blinked. "That's impossible! Isn't Kingdom Hearts the only way to recover our hearts?"

"I said created not recover."

"Oh…" X'ero nodded. "I think I'm beginning to get it. As the years have gone by I have found out that I'm thinking less and less like Nihil. I felt incompatible with her."

"Of course." Zexion tactfully avoided asking about how long X'ero had been a Nobody. "That is to be expected. Even if we are not technically alive we still gain new experiences as we get through the days and slowly our original memories would fade into a long forgotten past. You must have noticed it too. That you can remember emotion you don't remember having when you were whole, that suddenly new problems are more important. People chance over time. It can't be helped. Demyx has always been different than the rest of us. Somehow he managed to reach deep inside his own soul and define himself out of what he is now instead of what he used to be and he created a heart for himself out of the same material as our bodies."

"A heart of nothing… " X'ero was slowly wrapping her mind around the concept. "What does that make him?"

"A whole Nobody? A Nobody who is alive?" Zexion didn't sound sure. "We are not exactly sure, and unfortunately Xemnas had forbidden us to investigate it further. He doesn't want to pursue that path."

"Why?"

"Because it's a one way path: Yes, Demyx has become whole. He has become… Demyx, but that person Demyx was before losing his heart has definitively died. Xemnas wants to recover what we have lost, not create something new."

Without noticing it himself Zexion had stood up from the bed and begun to walk around in restless circles. X'ero knew the pattern of behavior to be one Zexion used when he was getting into a theory, but had come across and difficult bump on the road to success. She said nothing, but just waited for Zexion to voice his thoughts.

"I'm a scientist. I push forward." Zexion said. "Yes, losing our hearts and becoming…" Zexion pointed to himself. "…this, was a side effect we hadn't calculated with, but now there is a new road open I'm not sure we shouldn't explore that one. There are so many opportunities in the unknown, taking a step back and seeking to become what we once was just seems like a…" For some reason he looked at her for the words.

"A step down the evolution ladder?" X'ero filled in the empty part of Zexion's line as a sense of something fatal struck her.

"Exactly! But I'll convince Xemnas that I'm right. I just need to find the right method to manipulate him. Perhaps I should enroll Xaldin. He is good at influencing people, but of course I had to be sure that Xaldin would see it my way…"

Zexion was now completely absorbed in his thought, and X'ero was sort of convinced that she could escape without her friend noticing it. But Zexion's passion for his work had always fascinated her. She reached into her poison pouch around her neck and took the pencil-turned-chess-piece out. The illusion was still on it. X'ero suddenly realized that she had no wish to leave Zexion behind. Her existence might have been safe before he had wormed himself into it, but it had also been dull and monotonous. Did she really wish that? Perhaps she really did belong in the mismatched group of Nobodies. They weren't saints, but unlike her original people the Nobodies really didn't seem to think that she was worse or better than them - perhaps she could learn to fit in. Perhaps she already fitted in.

"Zexion, I'm sorry that I tried to run away. It was wrong. I'll give you some time to convince Xemnas and if you fail I'll go for Kingdom Hearts. There is still some time until it is completed and I think I can trust your scheming abilities to do something about it. If we end up choosing this other path it sound like I myself is responsible for getting my heart back – which mean I can avoid it too."

"I don't think a heart of nothing is stronger than your mind. I don't think you have to fear it." Zexion awoke from his thoughts and reposition himself beside X'ero

"That is for me to decide." X'ero answered. "That is what I like about your theory."

"We have two more things to talk about. The first thing is Saïx."

"He is going to kill me when he wakes up." X'ero shuddered. Not because she was afraid - Just because the slip was beginning to be a little cold as her only piece of clothing. "Not just did I almost kill him, but I also first stopped my attack when he passed out from pain after which I drugged him with my sleeping potion so I could drag him back to the grey room."

"I think him wanting to kill you is an understatement. But he is very professional so he won't. What I want to talk about is why he has an interest in you."

"It has to be some way to hurt you." X'ero concluded. "But I must admit that I can't see how it can affect you."

"I'll tell you how it would hurt me, when you are ready." Zexion's blue eyes scanned over X'ero's freezing form. "For now I want to you to stop thinking of your body as a weapon and attempting to use it as such."

"But…"

"No buts! I'm very serious."

"Okay!" X'ero shrugged. "Sex is not the easiest way to kill people anyway. Even if you use poison and not magic!"

Zexion sighed inwardly. It seemed X'ero still managed to be a strange mix of completely oblivious and brutally blunt when it came to the more essential facts between men and women. He needed a way to get drilled into her brain how normal relationships between a man and a woman usually worked. An preferably he needed a method that would cause X'ero to attack him in panick.

"The second thing is Larxene." He said. "I'm a bit worried that she is so desperate. Are you aware that she sought me out to tell me that you had run, just to attack Saïx? Without a leader I fear what she is capable of doing. X'ero, you and her are allied. Try to be closer to her, so we have a chance of predicting what she will do. I'm worried that she might become loose cannon that will aim at anyone if you don't."

"I can try, but I'm not good at the whole being close thing." X'ero shivered. "For now I think I should just get back into the coat."

* * *

><p>Larxene, however, was not even in the castle of the Organization. She was at the ruin of Oblivion, aimlessly kicking dust and rubble aside with her foot. She knew that she would have to return soon. The leading members of the Organization would have analyzed the situation and would be back in the fight before long. She had to be back before that, but for now she was thinking. Her foot hit a material that wasn't stone. She bowed down and picked up a weird shape-shifting substance, but even for the constant changing of forms it still looked it could be a hilt of a sword or another kind of weapon. Larxene stuffed the thing away as she heard voices from nearby. She quickly hid behind a pillar. The two knights appeared, the male one opening and closing his hands as if he was checking its functionality.<p>

"Thanks for healing me." He said to the female knight.

"I'm sorry it took so long, but you had been scattered all over by the flood."

"Those Nobodies really are the root of evil."

Behind the pillar, Larxene couldn't suppress a laugh. Demyx? The root of evil? As if! Those two really had a one way mindset. The knights turned towards the sound and quickly ran to where they had heard Larxene, but she was already gone with her newfound possession.

* * *

><p>Ns: I had to sometime think about the Nobodies and recovering their hearts (are subject necessary when dealing with the Nobodies), besides I thought it was time to give some credit to Demyx. He is the only one in the Organization who beat me 20 time in a row when I first played the game.<p>

Demyx: I rock!

Ns: Or you just had a nasty habit of summoning your timed clones in the middle of the fight when I was standing in the other end of the arena so I couldn't interrupt your play. Next chapter will be up next wedensday.


	33. Chapter 33: Poisoned Dream

Ns: Next bunch of chapters, we are catching up to where we was before awfully fast.

X'ero: It took you _ten _chapters to discover.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or the characters related to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 33: Poisoned Dream <strong>

Saïx could barely manage to drag his body to his own room. His head was hazy from one of X'ero's drugs. He did not have the strength to check and see if X'ero had come back as well. Frankly he didn't want to see her right now. His primary instinct right now was to rip her to shred, which he wasn't allowed to do. Saïx fell down on his bed. He would deal with it tomorrow.

Next morning came too soon, because someone was stroking his hair to wake him up. Wait a moment, that didn't make any sense! Saïx shot up and almost knocked over X'ero.

"I know you usually wake up first, but there is no need to push me away." She complained.

"What are you talking about? You just tried to kill me!"

The girl on the floor smiled. It was a sweet honest smile that lightened up her whole face, it was also a smile that made the girl look a lot less like X'ero.

"I would never do such a thing. You know that."

Before the girl had time to wipe the smile of her face, Saïx was out of his bed and had grabbed her by the collar.

"You are not X'ero." He said. "She is not so nauseating sweet!"

The smile on the girl's face changed – grew more devious and more like X'ero's by the second.

"This is not what you want? Very well." Her clothes literally disappeared between his fingers as he dropped her to the floor. The X'ero-imposter placed her hands on his chest and pushed him backwards towards the bed. He mindlessly allowed it to happen as she sat down on his lap. "Is this better?" She asked seductively.

"No!" Saïx grabbed the wrist of the woman and rolled them around so he was on top. "This is better."

The girl merely giggled, which caused Saïx to scowl.

"You are not X'ero." He stated once more. "You are not what I want."

The giggling wouldn't stop, but somehow it began to sound as eerie as X'ero's smile.

"If this is not what you want then perhaps you better let me go."

"I can't!" And he really couldn't. His finger wouldn't unlock their grip on her no matter how hard he tried.

The giggling wouldn't stop:

"You really should let go now or you'll drown."

Saïx looked around and saw that the room was filling with black feathers. He had to get out, but he was still glued to the girl.

"Let me go!" He shouted. She just stopped her giggling for a second to look at him in confusion.

"I'm not holding you back. It is the other way around. You are the one pushing me down."

* * *

><p>It was an unusual situation in the Grey room. It had started out normally with most of the Nobodies showing up prepared for a new day's work. That, however, proved to be hard as the person responsible for handing out the assignments had not yet showed. X'ero suddenly felt an arm around her shoulder and Larxene's head popped into her view.<p>

"So…" She asked with a little too loud voice. "What did you do to Saïx since he hasn't showed up yet? Kill him?"

Everyone suddenly looked at Xero with interest.

"I've nothing to do with Saïx absence." X'ero really hoped that she hadn't: Because if Saïx was ditching his duties because of her, he was _really_ mad at her.

"Come on X'ero! He chased after you, you know…"

"Larxene!" For some reason Xaldin interrupted the thunder-user. "Pretending to talk to X'ero won't let you withdraw with grace. Why don't you just admit your loss?" Apparently Larxene, Xalding and Luxord were playing some kind of card game to kill time.

"I'm not losing anything." Larxene claimed and began to walk back to the couch area without releasing X'ero. "You are joining us."

"But I don't know the rules."

"You'll pick them up along the way."

Knowing that Larxene wouldn't rest until she had her way, X'ero gave up protesting; besides she had promised Zexion to keep close to Larxene and X'ero could figure out no better way to do that - other than letting Larxene drag her around.

Learning the rules of the card games went smoothly for X'ero. It was like memorizing which poison components went well with each other and then figure out new strategizes to mix them well together. Somehow X'ero even succeeded in staying in the game longer than Xaldin and Larxene, but no matter how quick she was to learn she was no match for Luxord and was finally forced to throw her cards down on the table.

"You win." She admitted.

"You couldn't win the bet either." Larxene said disappointed.

"Which bet?"

Luxord laughed.

"There seems to be a dare in the Organization to see who can beat me at any game, so far none have succeeded."

"The only one who hasn't tried right now is Xemnas, Saïx and Zexion."

Xaldin tsk'ed as he made himself comfortable on the couch:

"You'll lose one day."

Luxord collected his cards again.

"I always welcome a challenge."

X'ero avoided the conversation. She would never say it out loud, but she guessed that she had enjoyed the game, and it seemed that Zexion's wariness of Larxene was exaggerated. The other woman seemed fine – perhaps even a little too much. How long were you supposed grief when your partner in crime died? Before she could think more about it, the door into the common area swung open and Saïx stomped in followed by a timid looking Demyx. Saïx didn't look like he had slept well. Perhaps she had drugged him too heavily.

"Good to see you are being productive." Saïx said as he glared at everyone on turn. X'ero couldn't help but notice that his glare avoided her. "But before you all decide to throw a party or something equally stupid you all have subjugation mission to go on."

"Subjugation?" Xaldin asked as he received his and Larxene's mission review. "Xemnas want us to defeat boss level heartless?"

"It's for the materials they drop. The moogle can't get them so we must do it ourselves."

"Yes I know what they are supposed to be used for." Xaldin and Larxene disappeared on their mission.

"I hope you are fresh and can keep you head in the game." Luxord said to Demyx as they went over their mission. "Because this seems like a though player."

"But I just woke up. It is not fair that I have to work so much. " Demyx seemed the same. Perhaps he was not aware of the change within him. X'ero wouldn't be surprised if Demyx was capable of overlooking such a dramatic change within.

Then Luxord and Demyx disappeared too and X'ero was left alone with Saïx who still didn't look at her.

"Saïx, about yesterday…"

"…" Saïx turned around and opened a portal wordlessly. If X'ero hadn't hurried he would have left without her.

* * *

><p>They arrived at nighttime at a snowy mountain in the world X'ero believed was called the Land of a Thousand Dragons. Far away down the mountain she could see what seemed to be a city.<p>

"What kind of heartless are we looking for?"

"…" Saïx had his back to her and was climbing the mountain. X'ero suddenly had a flashback to their first mission together. Expect this time Saïx was taking even longer strides to outrun her and it was going up a snowy mountain at nighttime. X'ero narrowed her eyes. This was ridicules.

"Saïx, I'm good at heartless. I'm good at finding them and defeating them not to mention controlling them. It is ridicules not to say which heartless we are looking for!" He was still not talking to her in fact he was if possible speeding up. X'ero ran to catch up to him. "Wait!" She shouted and when Saïx made no move to do so X'ero grabbed his arm to stop him.

Saïx started when she touched him and jerked his arm away with such a force that she was knocked down in the snow. Their eyes accidental met. In a brief second an expression that X'ero never had seen before crossed over Saïx's face. Then he averted his eyes and returned to his usual expressionless, but X'ero had seen it: For a second Saïx had looked almost afraid. It was as if the cold from the snow she was currently sitting in seeped in to her body and filled the hollowness that came with being a Nobody.

"Fine!" X'ero spat. "You obviously don't need me so I'm going to go down to the town and see if they have some magic shops. You can come and get me when 'we' are done with this mission."

X'ero stomped downwards without looking back. She could admit that Saïx had a certain right to be dissatisfied with her, and she could live with him threatening her or giving her his 'I'm-so-much –better-than-you-and-you-are-worth-nothing' glare, and if it was what it took to set the record straight, she guessed that she could also live with him hitting her, but Saïx was acting as if her touch was something to be feared. How dared he act like the people of her original world? After everything that had happened, with everything Saïx knew about her - How could he treat her like that?

X'ero had almost reached the bottom of the mountain and the snow was beginning to thin out and had even melted in some placed. X'ero dried her cheeks from some of the melted snow that had fallen down on her. Funny how the liquid felt so warm against her hand in the cold. She had reached the city but honestly she doubted that any shop was open so late in the night. She didn't feel like studying magic anyway. X'ero sat down on a bench. Obliviously there was nothing she could do to repair her relationship with Saïx. She guessed it didn't matter since she had never sought a good relationship with him in the first place. X'ero rested her head in her hands. It still felt like she had lost something.

Footstep sounded in the snow. X'ero knew it couldn't be Saïx, he would never come back for her, but she still looked up and saw a young man she knew.

"Riku?" The young man didn't look as friendly as he had done when they first met and X'ero immediately jumped up alerted and summoned her gloves. "What do you want?" She asked.

"I want to talk!" Riku said. "About Kairi!"

The darkfire would have connected with her head had she not ducked.

"Reflectoga!" The sword-like weapon of Riku's was repelled against her temporally barrier. "You have obviously reconnected with the darkness." X'ero stated as she bought herself some time.

"You said it yourself. I have learned the technique, and since I'm no princess of heart I have darkness in my heart. Besides…" Riku took a step back as the dark aura surrounded his body. "this time the darkness is mine alone. I'm not ashamed to walk the path of twilight!"

Riku dashed at her with a speed that Larxene would be jealous of. X'ero barely managed to conquer up a double aeroga spell to push him back. This wasn't good. X'ero had heard about it, but hadn't believed it fully. Riku really was walking a path of equal darkness and light, and now where he had found his own source of darkness with being possessed by somebody else's heartless, he seemed impossible for her to overcome.

"Dark firoga!" X'ero aimed her favourite spell at Riku, but he simply blocked the swirling tornado it with his weapon. X'ero scowled. How provocative could one person be?

"You won't win!" Riku claimed and X'ero believed him, but she had to try. As far as she could see her only chance was to get Riku to drink one of her poisons.

Riku dashed at her again and X'ero resummoned her reflect spell. For a long time that was all there was too the battle: Metal clashing with a magic barrier, but the spells grew weaker. X'ero could feel how it took a little less force off the attacks each time Riku aimed at her.

"Why?" She asked in one of moments between the attacks. "We fought together, remember? And I have personally never done anything to you."

"That is true." Riku hesitated. "But I when I heard what had happened from Naminé I had to do something, and I don't know how to find the other you."

"Revenge is not the answer."

"I know and I wanted to be there for Sora, but I couldn't. I couldn't face him. I had to know."

"Had to know what?"

"Why did your heartless target Kairi?"

"She had a keyblade and she was a one of the princesses of pure heart – she must have been like a beacon for the heartless."

"I knew it!" Riku looked like X'ero had actually succeeded in getting an attack in. "I gave her that keyblade so she could defend herself."

"Then it is your fault!" X'ero stated cruelly.

"I know..." Riku's blade sunk down and X'ero took the chance.

"Double-thunderga!" The thunder spell hit Riku straight in the chest. He swayed but had no chance to steady himself when X'ero suddenly tackled him down to the ground. It hurt her more than him, but she did had the element of surprise. Before Riku had time to recover from the shock, X'ero, still sitting on top of him, grabbed his chin with her hand forced his mouth open with her other hand dripped the first poison she could fish out of her pouch into his mouth. Riku spluttered, but he still swallowed some of the poison. X'ero quickly got of Riku, and looked at her opponent. Riku's body was already showing early spasms. X'ero turned the small bottle in her hand so she could read the label. As she read it she realized that she certainly had won the battle.

* * *

><p>Saïx was tired as he walked down the mountain after defeating a dragon sized heartless himself, but he had of course managed to salvage what needed to be salvaged, and he had needed a straightforward fight where he didn't needed to consider what kind of trap lay in wait for him. Saïx had almost reached the city and he guessed that he had to say something to X'ero when he found her. He just didn't know what. Confusion was a state of mind not an emotion, so it was permissible that he was confused as to how he should handle X'ero right now. The battle with the gigantic heartless had depleted him for wrathful energy so he no longer wanted to rip her to shred. Instead he had the dream, which he would rather not analyze.<p>

As he reached the city he quickly saw the silhouette of X'ero in one of the streets. He had barely walked up to her when he saw that she was standing next to another human figure on the ground. What had she gotten herself into this time?

"How did you manage to get Riku in this situation?" Saïx asked when he arrived at the scene temporarily forgetting to be awkward around X'ero. She wordlessly handed him one of her poison bottles. Saïx was about to ask how she got Riku to drink it, but decided that he didn't needed to know.

"Is he going to survive it?"

"It is a poison that I designed to kill slowly and subtle by slowly effecting the vital organs and muscles and shutting them down." X'ero explained.

Saïx looked at Riku. The way the poison made Riku's muscles convulse it didn't look like a slow or subtle working poison.

"It is not designed to be used like this, though." X'ero suddenly said as if she had read his thoughts. "I estimate that he has around 60 per cent chance of dying, 30 per cent chance of going into a coma and 10 per cent of surviving."

"So there is a small chance he can survive this?"

"I guess so."

Saïx finally pulled himself together to actually look at X'ero. She didn't discover him glancing at her and thus she didn't do anything to mask the pain she was in. Saïx scowled inwardly. What was up with that?

"We will take him to the Organization then." Saïx said. X'ero looked surprised at him and Saïx knew he had to explain. "It is Xemnas's decision what to do with him."

* * *

><p>Vexen cackled as he ran around gathering equipment in the laboratories.<p>

"I had never imagined having Riku in such a vulnerable position. Just imagined the clones I can make now."

"NO!" It came sharply from Zexion and Xemnas who had just entered the room..

"None of your clones have proven loyal. We can't handle them right now." Xemnas shook his head. "Can you stabilize him? You are our best potion maker."

"Yes that is quite easy now X'ero has explained how the poison works."

Xemnas eyes sought Zexion.

"What do you think?" He asked. "Is he worth more as a hostage or dead?"

"Sora is properly going to react violently no matter what we choose, but death is more final. If we choose that and it proves to be the wrong choice we can't correct the mistake."

"We can't hold him here!" Saïx sharply added from the background. He was more focused on the fact that Zexion had had an arm around X'ero's shoulder the whole time to comfort her.."Riku has rediscovered his connection to the darkness. If we hold him here he could open the barrier from the inside."

"We all know that your first solution to a problem is to kill it." Zexion coldly continued the discussion. "But those of us, who actually think before acting, realize that we could put him in one of those cells designed to hold Marluxia and Larxene in. He won't be able to open a portal from in there."

"Keyblader!" Saïx simply pointed out. "Locks tend to be useless against them."

"A pit!" Zexion suggested. "It doesn't matter that he can open the door if the door is too high up to reach. If we make it of the same materials as the cells we designed for Marluxia and Larxene, he won't be able to open a portal."

"I like the pit idea." Xemnas said. "Stabilize him Vexen."

"I have already done that." Vexen said. "I couldn't wait for you to stop bickering."

Both Saïx and Zexion refused to look at each other. X'ero quickly freed herself from Zexion.

"I don't think I'm needed here anymore." She said.

"X'ero." Xemnas's voice stopped X'ero when she reached the door. "You did well!"

"I guess so." She disappeared through the door.

"She doesn't seem proud of herself considering she stopped one of our most dangerous enemies." Xemnas said. He looked at Zexion.

"She joined us late. It is harder for her to see how much damage Riku has done."

Saïx wordlessly disappeared out of the room as well. Obviously his opinion wasn't needed. He caught sight of X'ero longer up of the stairs.

"Wait!" He said. She froze and then turned around.

"I won't talk to you." She said. "Not when you are refusing to look at me."

It was true. Saïx was still not looking at her. How could he with the dream he had had?

"What is your problem? Riku is an enemy, and he is going to survive against my better judgment."

"Riku was the first one to call me decent." There was bitterness in her voice that made Saïx seek her orange eye, in spite of dreams and everything. "I still said such a cruel thing to him and took advantage of the situation. I just can't do it right."

"You would be a fool if you showed mercy." Saïx claimed.

"I didn't kill you." The words where whispered and X'ero seemed to regret them the moment they passed her lips. She turned around and made a moment to leave. Saïx grabbed her shoulder.

"I'm not you enemy. That is why it's different with me."

"In the reversed situation you wouldn't show me mercy." She calmly said.

Saïx couldn't deny that. Instead he asked a question that had been nagging him since the morning.

"Do you think I'm pushing you down?"

Surprise was evident in the orange eye.

"After all that has happen _that's _what you want to ask? No 'how dare you attack me'? or perhaps: 'Don't think I'm going to forget what happen!'" The last words were said in a deeper voice. Saïx just shook his head.

"You are very bad at imitating me." He said. "And to your information: You are not so important that I ever would feel threaten by you."

"Never mind I almost killed you then." X'ero mumbled. "But the answer to your question is: No! I never let anything push me down."

"Good!" Saïx pushed the long side of her hair behind her ear. "Then I just have one order for you: Don't ever take up giggling."

"What the...?" But Saïx was already gone. X'ero absentmindedly touched the side of her face her hair normally covered, as if she wanted to check that it really had been revealed. She didn't know if relief was a feeling and if she should be capable of feeling it, but right now, in this specific moment, she was relieved.


	34. Chapter 34: The Calm Before the Storm

Ns:

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters of Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 34: The Calm Before the Storm<strong>

"I don't get you." Axel said. He had been saying a lot, but this time he meant it. "Your eye gets messed up and you _stop_ wearing an eye patch. Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

Nihil absentminded touched her scarred eye or what was left of it.

"There is no shame in wearing a battle scar." She stated and glared at Axel with her healthy eye. "Why are you still here?"

Axel whistled:

"A bit hostile, aren't we? Where else should I be?"

"With Sora." Nihil suggested.

The cheery attitude vanished from the Nobody.

"I can't do that!" He said and noticed Nihil's puzzled expression. "You wouldn't understand."

"I don't really care." Nihil said as she shrugged and gathered a huge stack of vellum in her arms.

"What kind of monsters are you making this time?" Axel asked suspiciously. He had not forgotten the whole castle turned heartless episode.

"You don't want to know..." Nihil paused. A rare insecure look fell over her face. "Listen... We both know that you are going to betray me at some point. Couldn't you be nice and do it know? It will be really impractical to deal with later."

Axel took a step back.

"Wait a minute are you throwing me out?" Her silence was answer enough. "That is not cool."

"You helped me because it was safest for you, but I'll no longer be safe."

"I see." Axel opened a portal. "Don't make a monster so strong that it consumes you." Nihil looked up at him in irritation.

"Who do you think I am?" She asked angrily.

Axel just laughed as he disappeared.

"Better memorize it!" And with his catchphrase Axel was gone.

* * *

><p>X'ero had to be doing it just to irritate him, Saïx was convinced of it, because if she had gone missing <em>again<em> he did not know who, but _someone _would die. The laboratories were the only place he hadn't checked so he was heading there now. Saïx slowly opened the door into the infamous rooms. Every Nobody knew better than to surprise Vexen in the middle of his research. The risk of being dragged into a crazy experiment was high.

"VII, are you here to check up on our progress?" Vexen asked without looking away from his charts. "We are ready for tomorrow. I'm just doing the final adjustment right now."

"You have already reported your result."Saïx flatly pointed out. "I'm here looking X'ero. I have work for her."

"You have been having an awful lot of work for her this week." Vexen noted.

And so what? Saïx had just made sure that no one on the active teams had wasted their time while Nobodies in the laboratories had been preparing for the next phase, and who was better at providing fodder enemies than X'ero who could summon up the widest rank of heartless? Of course X'ero still had to master her Nobody-control and find her own squad of lesser Nobodies, and when she hadn't been summoning or training Saïx had been really good at finding other mundane task for her to do. If he gave her free time she would waste it by hanging around Zexion, so Saïx made sure she got as little free time to waste as possible.

"Where is she?" Saïx only kept the threatening tone out of his voice with trouble.

"We are finished here so she and Zexion went out."

"Went out?"

"What is it that you young people call it? A date!"

Saïx quickly left the laboratories with his fist clenched. There were no windows in this area and such no moonlight so he was not angry. It was not possible.

"Aren't we looking cheery?" Xigbar suddenly materialized few inches in front of him, hanging upside down in the air. "Anyway the boss is looking for you."

Saïx had already given Xemnas the daily rapport, so there should be no need for Xemnas to summon him, but he was not going to give Xigbar the satisfaction of seeing him confused.

"What did he want?"

"Something to do with what a useless pet you are."

Xigbar vanished before Saïx had the chance to kill him.

* * *

><p>"So..." X'ero was savouring the sweet taste of the hot drink. "Why are you buttering me up?"<p>

"Who says that there is a need to butter you up?" Zexion asked with a smile. "We used to drink hot chocolate at cafés all the time when we lived in Traverse Town."

"It just seems like a reckless moment to take up old habits." X'ero said. Not that she wasn't enjoying it. It was a nice break from what had been a hectic week.

"London is safe." Zexion said. "The only thing here is a key hole in Big Ben and that has been closed."

It wasn't exactly heartless that worried her, but Zexion's sense of smelling rivalled even her scanning powers. The keyblade monsters properly wouldn't be able to sneak up on them. Reassured X'ero allowed herself to relax and enjoy her free time – the latter was so sparse.

"So once again, why are you trying to butter me up?"

"Why can't I do something nice for you without you thinking that there is an ulterior motive?"

"Because there is!" X'ero simply said.

Zexion shook his head and reached over the table to place his hands on hers.

"All right there is a slight ulterior motive. Since we all are training so hard I decided to test the limit for my power as well."

Now that Zexion mentioned it why hadn't they been asked to pay for their drinks yet? X'ero stood up and walked into to the cafe to find its owner asleep lying on top of a table. X'ero poked him. He didn't stir at all. X'ero placed her thumb over one of the eyelids of the man and carefully pulled it up. His eye looked weirdly glazed over. X'ero checked for his pulse and quickly found the weak rhythmic beat.

"What did you do?"

"Destroyed his mind." Zexion answered as if it was a usual thing to do.

"But how?" X'ero looked confused at Zexion. "How come I didn't sense anything?"

"Illusion powers works best when they are subtle." Zexion looked a bit embarrassed. "I was using you as a part of the test. I thought that I would be good to go if I could activate my powers without your scanning system detecting them."

"That does make sense." X'ero admitted.

"We better go back." Zexion said. "Take my arm."

X'ero hesitantly did as Zexion asked her to and latched onto the offered arm. Was this a normal gesture between friends?

Zexion opened a portal back to their world. As they passed through the swirling darkness his hand brushed against one of the wall where a new dark pool formed. A handful of Soldiers came through it when Zexion and X'ero were gone and quickly surrounded the limp body. The jewel like heart floated away from the body and was quickly grabbed by one the heartless who happily hurried away with its prize. The rest of the heartless spread out in former so peaceful city to seek out more unconscious victims. Zexion had said that he had been testing the limit of his power. He had just neglected to mention that he had also been testing his range.

* * *

><p>Saïx was sitting at his rather large window and looking at the faintly glowing heart in the sky. He heard someone knocking at his door.<p>

"Enter." He said. There was really only one person who would bother speaking to him in their free time, and correctly X'ero peaked in. A nervous look was visible on her face.

"Weren't we supposed to train?" X'ero asked. Saïx said nothing. She was perfectly well aware of what they were supposed to do so there was no need to confirm it to her.

"Are you not talking to me again?" X'ero asked. "What have I done now?"

"Nothing." Saïx said. "I _am_ talking to you when you have something important to say."

"Are we going to train today or not?" X'ero asked.

"Not!"

"Okay..." He could hear her footstep coming nearer and then he felt the light touch of her hand on his shoulder. "Is something the matter?"

"Do you believe in destiny?" Saïx turned his head to look at X'ero's baffled face.

"What brought this on?" X'ero asked as she bought herself sometime to think it over. "But... uh... no! I like to believe that my mistake is my own doing." X'ero looked at him sharply. "But you are superstitious, are you not?"

"What did you say?"

"You admitted to having studied astrology."

"As a hobby." Saïx interjected.

"You wouldn't have done that if you didn't believe in it... just a little bit."

"Perhaps..." Saïx admitted. His eyes automatically sought the heart in the sky out. "But there are no stars on our sky. Perhaps we have no future either." He saw X'ero's skeptical look. "Symbolically speaking of course."

"Seriously, what brought this on?"

"It is not your business." Saïx returned his attention to Kingdom Hearts.

The grip on his shoulder intensified and suddenly Saïx was aware that X'ero had moved much closer to him.

"The Saïx I know..." An orange eye stared straight at him. "...would never say such a thing. Since when have you started speaking of defeat?"

"We are so close." Saïx said. "With the way you have made the heartless more aggressive and Sora's growing strength, Kingdom Hearts have recovered in at an incredible speed. Look at it. It is so close to completion, and yet..." Saïx sighed. "I have this premonition that everything is about to go wrong."

"Have something infected your mind?" Ever the practical X'ero was beginning to seek a way to resolve Saïx weird behaviour. "Should I scan you?" With the way her eye began to slightly glow, Saïx was guessing that she wasn't waiting forr permission. "All right..." She mumbled. "It is not a mind affecting curse. How about poison? Have you been drinking anything weird? Something Vexen thought up? Open your mouth. If you know what to look after some poison leave physical signs such as a thing membrane on the tongue or..." Saïx grabbed X'ero's hands before she did something drastic as attempting to examine him. He was not sure would he would do if she touched his face with her ungloved hand. Already it was hard to have her so close without his mind going back to the situation at the beach. He really did not need her to close the distance between them, it didn't matter that it was him who had started to dissolve notions such as personal boundaries.

"Don't fake concern for me." Saïx growled. "I have very little patience with hypocrisy today." To his surprise X'ero brighten up.

"That sounds more like you." She smiled. Not the eerie smile, but a normal smile that made her seem uncharacteristic sweet. "I guess you are not going to tell what brought this on?"

"That is correct!" Should he tell her how Zexion had somehow managed to get Xemnas to chew him out? No way! She would report it back to Zexion and Saïx was not about to give the tactician that small victory. "We just have to make sure to complete tomorrow's mission above successful."

"That sounds no different from what you usually demand." X'ero said. "But could you tell what the mission is? The whole Organization have been preparing for something big for the past week..."

"Actually you and I just got a different mission. Something came up." Saïx said. "You'll see tomorrow."

"But I hate surprises. They are usually a bad thing."

"Not my problem."Saïx got up. He still had to check the moogle's upgrades and make sure that they had control over the lesser Nobodies.

X'ero looked after him. It was good that Saïx had returned to normal again, but the only one who had the authority to make Saïx fall so much out of character was Xemnas. Whatever had gone down it couldn't be good. Now _she_ had premonitions of hidden dangers that not even her finest scanning could see through. X'erp tugged her hood up to hide her face. She was not going to like tomorrow. She just knew it.

* * *

><p>Ns: It was rather short today, but this was the right place to cut it..<p> 


	35. Chapter 35: Love

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 35: Love<strong>

"Love?" Nihil looked confused at her slightly older partner in crime. "What is that?"

"Apparently it is an emotion."

They had just buried the third captain and were now the only two left, so it confused Nihil why the other would start to discuss exotic emotions that would never find a place in their isolated, sad world.

"What is so special about an emotion?" The young poisoner asked, all she knew were anger, hate and paranoia and they were definitely unpleasant feelings.

"It is said to be the very core of the light. An emotion so strong, that it makes the impossible possible by temporarily boosting all your willpower, endurance, and even in theory your strength, and the only consequence is a failing in judgment and a tendency to let your guard down around the person in question. Some theories say it is the most euphoric feeling in the worlds other theories say that it only brings misery in the end."

"An emotion that boosts your capabilities, makes some people high, and other just miserable - an extended exposure to it destroys your judgement and makes your foolish." Nihil thought the definition, she had just heard, over. "Sounds like a drug to me. Is all those that walk in the light on that thing?"

"According to the Master more or less, and he told me to warn you. The three knights that just have entered our realm apparently fight to protect the worlds they love. He says that it might make them stronger."

"Tsk!" Nihil shrugged. "Whatever. I'm still going to beat them."

"I wish you would wait. We are so close to figure out how to make a keyblade. Once that is completed I'll be able to be..."

"I don't care for you ambition." Nihilo snapped. "And I'm not going to lose."

Nihil disappeared in the green mass of her echoes. No way, she was going to lose to some fools who were motivated to fight by a ridicules drug like emotion.

* * *

><p>"Would you love him?" Larxene asked while she was swirling around one of her knives. "If you had a heart of course..."<p>

X'ero looked up from her poison bottles with knitted brows:

"Zexion?" She asked. "The question is irrelevant. If I had had a heart I would never have befriended him."

"Aw, you are no fun. I'm trying to gossip here." Larxene complained. "I didn't mean if you were that white haired bitch again. If you were you, you know X'ero, and had a heart then would you love him?"

"I can't say. I never experienced love when I was a living person so I only have a theoretic idea about what it is." X'ero looked suspicious at Larxene the way she had reformulated her question almost made X'ero think that Larxene knew something about Demyx's situation, but that was impossible. "Why do you ask?"

"It is a bit silly, but I have been thinking lately." The knife turned around in the air and fell with the pointy end downwards. Larxene caught it between two fingers. "I have been thinking what kind of relationship Marluxia and I would have had if we had had hearts."

"From what I saw you worked well together. I'm sure that would have been the case with or without hearts."

"I'm not so sure. I was more... mellow back then."

"I have a very hard time imaging that..."

"You know what I have a hard time imagining? Saïx and Axel being friends! Can you actually imagine those two hanging out?"

No, X'ero couldn't see how the ever serious Saïx had had the patience to deal with Axel's joking attitude, but Axel had a streak of ruthlessness hidden behind the cheery smile, perhaps that had bounded them together. Besides Saïx had only ever mentioned his hobbies never what he had worked with, X'ero could easily imagine it being less than legal.

"Ha." Larxene suddenly laughed. "You are looking so contemplating. Aren't you the one who usually says: 'Don't mess with my past and I won't mess with yours'? Or are you actually beginning to be interested in the people surrounding you?"

X'ero screwed the lid of the poison bottle on a little harder than she intended, irritated that Larxene had caught her in what X'ero meant was hypocrisy.

"I'm finished here." She said and pushed the bottles towards Larxene. "I have sealed a fire spell in a small pentagram and placed the paper just under the lid. When you screw on the lid like this..." X'ero made a describing notion with her hand. "The paper will tear and destroy the seal so the spell will be released and the bottle explodes."

"Cool. Now give them to me!" Larxene reached for the bottles, but X'ero automatically pulled them back. She was not sure she should just hand Larxene such a thing. X'ero had just recently realized that perhaps she should not just blindly add people in their conspiracies. Larxene was destructive enough to harm everyone, it might be a good idea to at least figure out what Larxene was up to.

"Hey, I'm not going to do anything bad with it. I promise. I won't harm you or Zexion."

"..."

"And I'm not going to do something stupid like attacking Xemnas."

Then what was she going to do? Despite her better judgement X'ero still pushed the bottles towards Larxene.

"Don't make me regret this."

Larxene just waved and disappeared with a big smirk on her lips. Left alone X'ero lay down on her bed with a frown and a terrible knot in her stomach. The premonition of destruction that Saïx's weird behaviour earlier that evening had awoken inside her, only gained in strength. She couldn't relax and was sure that she was going to get nightmares. Saïx, however, had hinted that it was important she was prepared for the mission the following day. The idea to go to Zexion suddenly hit her. When Zexion was around she was able to relax and fully let go of all her suspicions, she could sit for hours and just watch him work.

"_Would you love him?"_

Her frown deepened as Larxene's question was randomly repeated in her thoughts. It was a good thing she didn't had a heart because that was a question she did not want to deal with. X'ero turned in her bed and tugged the blanket up over her head. Emotion or not: It was never good to completely let her guard down. In the end X'ero never move out of her bed.

* * *

><p>There was not one among the Nobodies who by now hadn't learned that undisguised rebellion would be punished hard, but the look on the faces of the active teams was as close to that particular sin as it was possible.<p>

"Did I not make the order clear?" Saïx asked, mostly to break the silence.

"I think..." Luxord began. "I think I'm more ready to take a gamble with the wrath of Xemnas than to complete that order."

"Heard!" Larxene added while Demyx tried to sneak out of the room. X'ero flashed her disaster-smile and Xaldin had crossed his arms. The only one who seemed to be enjoying themselves was Xigbar who, as always, knew what was going on.

"No one leaves." The last bit was specifically directed to Demyx who had almost reached the door.

"But it is too hard..." Demyx complained. "How can you order us to begin an extermination of those keyblade thingies?"

Xigbar laughed.

"It is no big deal: The sweet little things just pulverize into tiny keys which you have to beat _all_ before the monster resembles, and it is not like their attacks a super effective and light elemental."

Five pair of eyes turned their attention from Saïx to Xigbar. At least they weren't getting upset a Saïx anymore.

"Relax!" Saïx ordered. "It is not like you are supposed to go unprepared." He nodded as if he was signalling somebody, and a loud 'Kupo!´ was heard behind the group. The cloaked moogle jumped up and proudly dropped a bunch of rectangular metal figures on table. They were gloving with a faint light.

"Weapon upgrades." Xaldin stated. "Made partly from the materials we have been gathering..."

"As some of you know we secured one of the Key Hounds..." Saïx explained. "With the data from the monsters the laboratories has made an efficient shield against light based attacks..." Saïx stopped the explanation when he realized that all but X'ero was too busy playing with the new upgrade. X'ero noticed him looking at her.

"Funny how quickly the mood can change." She dryly said. She still seemed unhappy with the idea.

Saïx nodded:

"Childish minds are easily distracted."

Xigbar's sharp ears immediately caught the insult:

"Just because we don't have a life it doesn't mean that we can't live a little. But after your career discussion with the boss I understand why you are even more boring than usual."

"Don't you all have a mission to go on?" Saïx voice came close to a growl. No one dared to mess with Saïx when he used that tone and soon he and X'ero was the only one left in the room.

X'ero looked at him curiously and if he hadn't known better with a flicker of worry in her visible eye. Saïx turned away from her.

"It is not your business." He said. X'ero didn't argue with him.

* * *

><p>Of all the worlds Saïx had to choose from, why had he chosen Port Royal? X'ero watched Saïx's back as he wordlessly led the way through the dark streets. Was this Saïx way of saying that what had happened in this world no longer mattered, that she could no longer think of trapping him the way she had done here? Saïx stopped abruptly. X'ero curiously looked forward to see what had caught his interest and saw a row of people hanging from the gallows, scavenger birds already ribbing the bodies apart.<p>

"What a vulgar way of intimidation." X'ero shook her head in disgust as her eyes fell on one of the bodies that were too small to belong to that of an adult. "And it's completely useless method unless you are planning to make your enemy succumb to darkness in anger, and..."

"X'ero..." Saïx stopped her rambling. "You do not have to make up an excuse for finding this wrong."

X'ero was about to protest and say that it wasn't because she found it wrong, but stopped when she realized that she did find this act immoral.

"What is wrong with me?" She asked. "I used to believe in being completely ruthless."

It looked like Saïx was about to say something, but he changed his mind. Instead he just brushed the long side of her hair away from her face.

"So... " X'ero began. "Is it not time to tell me what is going on?"

"Axel seems to have left you other. Xigbar spotted him in this world. We need to track him down." Saïx looked at her. "Do you think that 'friend' of yours can trace him?"

"Tia Dalma? I'm not really sure that is a good idea." X'ero gave one more look to the hanging bodies. "But I do think we should get off this world."

* * *

><p>Once more X'ero stood before the door leading into the hideout of the pirate witch. This time, however, she was not sure how she would be received. X'ero took a deep breath and prepared to knock on the door when it sprung open and she almost crashed with a pirate.<p>

"Watch it lass. I got a very important jar of dirt here."

"...Sorry?"

The pirate scrutinized her a little closer.

"Haven't I seen those rags before? Perhaps if you took them off..."

Behind her X'ero could sense Saïx stepping closer.

"She is with me!" He said.

"Ay, mate. Relax!" The pirate properly sensed that now was a good time to scram and disappeared before Saïx could act on his unspoken threats. When the pirate was gone Saïx looked at X'ero disapproving:

"Stop attracting the weird types." He ordered.

"That was not my fault." X'ero stepped into the witch lair and found Tia Dalma sitting on her chair with a distant look in her eyes. "Tia Dalma?"

The other witch looked up and broke into a black smile:

"What a pleasure to see you again." She glared at Saïx. "You, I'm not so happy to see. It is your fault that I'm still here."

"Excuse me for not being a willing victim in weird sex-sacrifice rituals."

"I have apologized." X'ero said to him. "Tia Dalma, there might be one more of our kind in this world. Could you perhaps find out on which island?"

"Why should I help you? I believe we had an agreement which you did not stay true to." Tia Dalma circled around Saïx. "What can you possible give me now?"

Sensing that the last question was directed at him, Saïx removed his hood:

"We have munny..."

"I have no use for that, and this time I do not want a favour from my dark colleague. Because this is something you want, not X'ero."

"Then what do you want?"

Tia Dalma guided him to a chair and sat opposite him she shook a small bag and then dropped a bunch of small animal bones on a hide.

"You are pressured." Tia Dalma pointed at two bones that barely touched each other. "You have two paths left to follow. One is a path of shame and the other is a path that leads to your final demise." Her finger flowed to another bone constellation. "This signals..." Tia Dalma stopped and looked up at Saïx more interested. "I haven't though that about you." The witch's eyes looked past Saïx to X'ero. "It signals a darkness that you want to obtain, even if you know that it doesn't belong with you."

Saïx couldn't help but letting his eyes briefly crossed over X'ero as well. There was only so many things related to darkness that he was willing to do.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." At least X'ero seemed to have gone back to her oblivious state of mind.

"But I think you do." Tia Dalma nodded she gained a distant look in her eyes once more. "I have changed my mind." She said. "I sympathize with you and will help you. These bones symbolize a fire burning in a now empty treasure groove."

"A treasure groove? Luxord reported about that place. Let's go!"

Saïx grabbed X'ero and disappeared through a portal before she had time to interpret the reading.

They might be in a cave, but said cave had a lot of crevices that let in a lot of the moonlight, which wasn't good. He was going to be very limited in his movements. They found Axel in the main room of the cave where the cursed treasure had once stood before Sora had dropped it to the bottom of the ocean.

"So it is you." Axel said.

"You did not make a very good job out of hiding this time."

"Nah..." Axel shrugged. "Figured that I had enough of running, you know."

"This..." Saïx summoned his claymore and swung it behind himself to enter his fighting stance. "...is not some accidental meeting on another mission. _You_ are my mission and you will not escape!"

"I'm flattered!" Axel stretched out his arms as the burning wheels appeared. "All that hostility directed at me personally."

"X'ero, do me a favour." Saïx requested. "Stay out of this."

X'ero looked at him and Saïx thought that she was going to deny his order, but she nodded and walked to the far end of the fighting barrier.

"So it is between you and me." Axel said. "Ten years ago I wouldn't have believed it."

"Ten years ago we were mere kids. People change." Saïx dashed at Axel. "_You_ changed!" His sword slammed into the ground where Axel had been seconds ago.

Axel had leapt into the air to avoid the shockwave and threw a burning chakram at Saïx which Saïx easily dodged, by the time it returned Axel had merged with the scorching barrier while the ground under the feet of the diviner had gained a likeness with burning charcoal.

Saïx made sure to keep moving his feet to prevent his shoes from burning while he kept a close watch on the wall to see where Axel would emerge. The thought that the fire user might not play entirely fair crossed his mind and Saïx glanced backwards to convince himself that X'ero was unharmed. She had guarded herself with one of her reflect spells.

An increased heat on his right side warned Saïx of the danger and he jumped backwards just in time to avoid the attack. Because he had been caught off guard Saïx hadn't got the time to watch where he was jumping, and he too late discovered the yellow light falling on his skin and his claymore dropped to the floor. His self-awareness was quickly fading away to give place to the blinding rage he knew so well.

"Saïx!" X'ero's words and her hastened footsteps towards him somehow reach through the boiling anger and Saix was able to tear his body out of the moonshine. He felt X'ero supporting him as he struggled with his balance.

"Thanks whoever god that reside in this world." X'ero sighed. "I swear: You were see-through for moment there, but you feel solid enough." To be sure she poke him in the side.

"I'm fine." Saïx claimed as he re-summoned his weapon and purposely moved away from X'ero's touch.

"You were _transparent_. That can't be a good thing."

In a safe distance from them Axel laughed:

"Didn't Saïx tell you about this world?"

"He did mention disliking the moonlight here, but..." X'ero looked at Saïx nervously.

"The moon here has a special power to reveal what a person really is..." Saïx entered fighting position again. "I won't affect you or Axel because you're not attuned to the moon, but..."

"Wait a minute!" X'ero stepped in between Saïx and Axel. "Are you saying that the moon here literally turns you into nothing?"

"Yep!" Axel answered before Saïx. "It is hard to hold onto a weapon or hit anything when you aren't there, but do you know what the best part is, little Greenie?" X'ero narrowed her eye at the fire-user. She really did not appreciate nicknames. "Apparently magic still works on him, and I have a lot of spells _burning_ to be released."

X'ero turned towards Saïx again:

"But your magic abilities are really weak!" She bluntly stated. "And even if you couldn't physically attack, you were still about to go berserk which mean you wouldn't be in control of your movements."

She looked around; judging the place of fight with new eyes and noting that the places where the moon shone through the crevices greatly outnumbered the shaded places. "You are too vulnerable here. Let me join the fight." X'ero didn't wait for his answer, but summoned her gloves.

"Two against one? That's not really fair." Axel said without seeming particularly threatened by X'ero.

"Like, you are one to talk! You purposely chose this area to weaken Saïx."

Axel shrugged:  
>"Guilty as charged."<p>

X'ero clasped her hands together:

"Aer ..." Saïx quickly grabbed her hands so hard that the gloves dissolved:

"I told you to stay out of it!"

"But..." X'ero dragged her hand to herself and glared at Saïx. "You are being plain stupid right now." She said.

"Even if I am it is not your problem!"

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it isn't!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Ye...!"

A far too loud cough from Axel interrupted their very mature discussion.

"This is entertaining..." Axel said. "But I'm beginning to feel neglected over here."

X'ero tsk'ed and look at Saïx:

"We'll compromise." She said and summoned her gloves once more, but instead of attacking she concentrated and the dark gloves erupted into feathers as her orange eye grew darker. X'ero lifted her hands and the feather floated out and sought out a moonbeam each.

"I'll cancel the magic in the moonbeam." She mumbled and looked at Saïx with her now red eye. "I haven't affected the curse in you, though. So you should be able to attack with your full power."

A flaming chakram spun in the air towards X'ero, but she just nonchalantly lifted her right hand:

"Dark-reflect." She chanted and a dark blue sphere encircled her. The spinning wheel bounced off the barrier to its owner who grabbed it with an irritated look.

Saïx recognized the method of using darkness to enhance the spell from Nihil, but he had never seen X'ero use anything other than the dark-fire spell. To be frank he had not thought X'ero capable of tapping into the darkness like this without having one of her mental breakdowns.

"I think I have this under control." X'ero said with a hint of hesitation in her voice behind her barrier. "But just to be sure, don't take too long. I don't have unlimited magical energy in this form."

Saïx was still unsure. He knew that had to be a reason that X'ero normally avoided doing this.

"Just go and win that fight of yours." X'ero said when she sensed his hesitation. "I'll be fine."

Saïx tryingly put his hand inside one of the moonbeam. It remained solid. He summoned his claymore once more.

"Now you are going down!"

* * *

><p>When two people of almost equal strength battles it all depend on the finesse and tactics, but when the same two people on the same time is well acquainted and knew style of the opponent it all depends on that small time frame when one of the fighters makes a tiny little mistake – unfortunately both Saïx and Axel was determined not to be the one to make that mistake. Axel made sure to constantly keep just out of reach of Saïx's claymore and on the other side Saïx made sure of dodging or deflecting the burning attacks sent his ways.<p>

If someone had asked X'ero to describe the fight she would have said that there was a lot of fire from Axel and a lot of roaring from Saïx. Of course the darkness enchanted sphere that X'ero protected herself with, sort of obscured her view. Her sense of time had completely vanished, and the only measurement of some progression in the fight was her own awareness of the darkness that was slowly seeping through cracks in her mental barrier in the same speed her magical energy was failing. With them memories of bitterness were beginning to follow, but X'ero willed herself to ignore the pain. She owed Saïx this fight.

X'ero was getting tired. Saïx noticed it as his rage was depleted and he rushed by her once more. It was hard to see through the dark sphere, but from what he could see, she was looking pale. The fight was getting nowhere, he needed a plan. Anything would do. Axel had noticed his eyes movement:

"Don't tell me you are worried for you little girlfriend." He mockingly asked.

"...She's not my girlfriend..." Saïx paused. It was better not to go there. There was no way he was going to win a word battle with Axel. He never had. Saïx stopped his attacks as an idea hit him. If the problem was that they knew each other too well, then perhaps he could catch Axel off guard by acting opposite his instincts. "But I would like her to be." Saïx added as an afterthought.

"What?" Axel stopped up too, just out of reach of Saïx's weapon. "Did I hit you too hard on the head? Since when do you actually admit to liking someone?"

Saïx spread his arms his arms out in an indifferent gesture without letting go of his claymore.

"What is so wrong with liking... no loving someone?" Saïx inwardly cringed by his words. He was beginning to sound like Demyx, Saïx hoped that X'ero's barrier was soundproof. At least he couldn't be more opposite his usual self. He just hoped Axel was too focused on his words to see through his properly very bad acting.

"L...love?" Axel for once looked completely stumped. "Who the hell are you and what have you done with Saïx?" Axel was laughing.

"Nothing." His arms were still stretched out from his body and as unnoticeable as he was capable of Saïx twisted the wrist of his sword arm a little backwards. Seeing as Axel still looked confused Saïx took his chance and flung his claymore at Axel.

"Shit!" The weapon was not meant to be thrown and should be easy to avoid, but because Axel had been unprepared he had no other choice, but to jump over it since Saïx had aimed low. Saïx, however, had not wasted his time. He dashed after his weapon and grabbed Axel by collar and slammed him into the ground. Before Axel had time to get up Saïx lightly placed his foot on the other's throat.

"If you move something or I sense even the slightest change in the temperature, I'll l crush you under my foot like the bug you are."

"Bastard!" Axel gasped. With Saïx's foot on his throat he struggled for air. "Since when have you been playing mind games?"

"I know that usually was your role in our so called friendship, but since you are such a damn traitor I had to learn it myself." Having to deal with the hostility of Zexion and just... dealing with X'ero in general had also helped him developed a fondness of more alternative ways of getting rid of problems than just bashing them away.

"Saïx?" Behind him Saïx heard soft footstep and he felt X'ero stepping closer. "Can I reel in the darkness now?"

"Yes, the battle is over."

"Good..." The dark feathers gathered around X'ero again and disappeared as her eye returned to its normal orange colour and she stepped up beside him. "Not to meddle in something I'm not allowed to meddle in." X'ero looked at from Saïx to Axel. "But aren't we supposed to kill him?"

"I will! I just need to finish something."

"Okay." X'ero shrugged. "Just hurry up. I'm tired."

She did look extremely pale. Saïx placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Hang in there for a minute."

A strange sound erupted from his prisoner, and Saïx realized that Axel would be laughing if he had access to all the air he needed.

"I was wondering how you suddenly could lie so well, but now I see that it wasn't a lie."

Hearing where the conversation was headed Saïx increased the pressure from his foot.

"Shut up!" He growled.

X'ero shook her head in confusion.

"Of course it was a lie." She said. "You were just stupid enough to let it get to you."

Axel coughed:

"Did you not see how Saïx tensed when you stepped close? Did you not hear the worried tone in his voice?"

"That doesn't mean anything!" X'ero claimed. Saïx recognized the panicked undertone in her voice. It reminded him of the time when she had lost control in the hallway.

"Let me break it down so you can understand it." Axel said. "Saïx: Man. You: Woman. Man wants to fuck woman. It might not be love or anything emotional, but it is quite common, you know."

"NO!" It was one of the rare times where X'ero raised her voice. "It is all about using the body as a weapon. Saïx was interested in me because it, in some weird way I haven't understood, would harm Zexion, but it is over now: Saïx has seen what I'm capable off, and now Zexion is aware of it and it can no longer harm him. To quote you: Saïx would no longer gain anything from wanting to 'fuck' me."

The laughing sound erupted once more:

"I'm sorry to break it to you, Greenie, but attraction is not something you turn on and off at your own discretion, but if you doubt my honesty why don't you just have Saïx deny it."

As on cue X'ero turned to Saïx with glowing eyes.

"...X'ero, you are losing control." Saïx said.

X'ero glared at him then she spun around and marched out of the cave.

"I think you are in trouble." Axel said looking incredible smug for a man with a booth on his throat.

"And I think you are finished."

"Ha!" Axel looked him in the eye. "You and I both know that ain't happening."

The claymore on the ground disappeared and reappeared in Saïx hand.

* * *

><p>Saïx found X'ero resting against the cave wall. She slowly opened her eyes.<p>

"I'm sorry." She said. "That I reacted so strongly. Of course everything Axel said was a lie. I just... have a weaker mental stability when going into my limit break. My mind is a big mess right now."

"I've noticed."

"Let's get back." X'ero stood up.

"No. We need to talk about this."

"Now?"

"We won't get the chance later." Saïx suddenly placed his arms on either side of X'ero's head, trapping X'ero between them. "I wanted to trap you." Saïx said. "To bind you to me so that you would go down with me in case Zexion succeeded. But it didn't go that way..."

"Because I tried to run away?"

"No, because..." Saïx paused. "Because I'm no longer am sure what it is I want from you, but there is _one_ thing I know I want - if just once." Saïx leant in closer. "Be with me for the rest of the night."

"I'm here right now."

"I'm talking about something that involves a lot less clothes."

"I promised Zexion never to use my body as a weapon again, and I really don't think letting you use my body as a weapon is a good idea either."

"This has nothing to do with using anyone as anything. I just want you." X'ero said nothing. "It is fine if you don't believe me."

"..." That was a bad silence.

"So what do you say?" His own lips hovered just above hers, so he once more could feel the tickling rush her breath falling on them. How could she not be affected?

"I still think Zexion would be against it no matter the reason."

Saïx pulled back. That was as clear as a rejection could be.

"Besides..." X'ero continued, lost in her own thoughts. "It is an unpleasant thing. Why should I submit myself to it for no reason?"

Saïx pulled his glove off and reached out once more to brush her hair away from her face.

"Does that feel unpleasant?"

"No. You do that all the time."

"Then what about this." This time Saïx brushed his bare finger over the corner X'ero's lips. "Is my touch really unpleasant?"

"No, but..."

"Have you ever done this without plotting to kill your partner on the same time?"

"No..." X'ero avoided his eyes. "And should that not be a good reason for you _not_ to want this?"

"No, because you have been doing it all wrong." Saïx stated and wrapped and arm around X'ero to bring their bodies close together.

"I'm not sure this is..." X'ero whispered. She seemed confused, uncertain.

Saïx placed his finger on her lips.

"I'll stop." He said. "The moment it becomes unpleasant."

X'ero opened her mouth. Saïx had no idea if it was to protest or agree. He had finally enveloped her, tasting her skin and slowly beginning to remove their clothes, knowing that it at last was him that had control of the situation.

* * *

><p>Ns:<p> 


	36. Chapter 36: Manipulation

Ns: And the final chapter this week…. We are getting awfully close to the point where we was before I decided to rewrite this thing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 36: Manipulation <strong>

"I have never trusted you." Xemnas said. He sat in his throne and stared down at Saïx who for once was not sitting on his throne, but standing on the floor and staring up at the superior. "But I trusted you ambition, and was sure you could be kept in check."

"…" Saïx had nothing to say to Xemnas' sudden and unwelcomed honesty.

"You do realize that you have been under suspicion for some time?"

"With Marluxia gone does it really matter if I worked with him or not?" Saïx asked. "But to your information, I didn't have anything to do with them."

"Or so you say, but I'm afraid that Marluxia's demise only has made thing bleaker for you. The position as leader of the rebels is, after all, suddenly free for anyone to grab." Xemnas watched Saïx carefully, the implication hung in the air between them.

"I can assure you, sir, that if I were to betray the Organization I would choose someone more reliable than Larxene to team up with."

"Yes, you have shown real skills in being able to choose your allies. Axel was an excellent choice." Xemnas noticed Saïx surprised look. "What? You think we suspected nothing?"

"There is nothing to suspect, and even if there it was something that happen before the resurrection. You gave Marluxia and Larxene a second chance, why not me? I'm tenfold as useful as the two of them put together."

Xemnas waved his hand dismissingly.

"We knew exactly what they were up to that makes them easy to control, you on the other hand…"

"All I want is my heart back! I'm not up to anything."

"I saw you attack Larxene."

"When?" At first Saïx was confused, then he realized that Xemnas was properly talking about when he had bashed Larxene's head against his tombstone, but Saïx was sure they had been the only two in the Proof of Existence. "Larxene just happened to provoke me at a time my rage was high… I _am _a berserker after all."

"I'll like to believe that, but as far as I saw it was a completely unprovoked attack."

Since when did Larxene do something that was not provocative? What Xemnas had witness had to be some altered illusion of the event that Zexion had made. It would after all be easy for the illusionist to replay and alter the memory if he had first obtained if from Larxne, but it still worried Saïx that Xemnas had not discovered the illusion. How could the mightiest among them be tricked so easily?

"If you do not believe that I was in berserker-mode, what do you believe?" Saïx asked.

"I believe that you tried to subdue Larxene into the following you."

"That would be idiotic of me. Larxene would not be enough to take you on and she would also betray me at the first chance. I'm not stupid!"

"Unless you have a man on the outside." Xemnas said.

"Who should that be?" Xemnas looked at Saïx with a telling look. "Axel?" Saïx didn't believe this. Xemnas had gone crazy! "Did you miss the part where he betrayed everyone because of his attachment to Roxas."

"But why did he become attached to Roxas in the first place. How can I know that was not a thing you told him to do? It was you who made sure that Axel supervised Roxas' first mission. What if you planned it all: From Roxas' escape to Axel following him? That would explain why Axel has survived every encounter you have had with him. Because you secretly intended to have a man on the outside all the time and now you are forcing Larxene to aid you in the overtaking."

That was so ridicules, that Saïx at first didn't know what to say. Xemnas had to have caught a bad case of paranoia or something.

"Such a plan is not my style."

Xemnas folded his hand.

"Prove it!"

* * *

><p>"An ultimatum?" X'ero gasped as she tried to focus on something else than Saïx's hand moving up her thigh. "You could be a little more specific than that…".<p>

"Mmm…" Saïx didn't bother to formulate an actual word, properly because he would have to move his mouth from her neck, but X'ero was not about to give up. Not when she was finally getting something out of Saïx about why he acted so weird lately.

"Have you gotten an ultimatum from Xemnas?" X'ero asked. "Has he threatened you in some way?"

Saïx sighed deeply against her skin.

"Do you always talk this much doing sex?"

"Yes…" X'ero answered after quickly thinking the question over. "It helps to keep my mind somewhere else."

Saïx suddenly pulled away and grabbed her chin with two fingers.

"I want your full attention!" He demanded.

"…" X'ero placed her hand on Saïx chest? How had they lost their clothes again? Somehow the subconscious voice in her head managed to make itself heard through the dark haze of aggressiveness in her tired mind: She was too tired and close to losing control, and she was sure that this was somehow a betrayal towards Zexion. She should really not continue. "I'm not sure this is a good idea…" She tried to push Saïx away, but he didn't budge. Instead he placed his hand on top of hers and slowly dragged it downwards until her fingers brushed the fabric of his pants. This was the only piece of clothes separating them.

She should really withdraw her hand.

Like right now! Her fingers folded themselves around the fabric and she dragged them down. It was as if her body was moving on its own… No, such a sentence was just an excuse. A part of her had to actually want this. X'ero saw the ghost of a smile, or perhaps rather a victories smirk, around Saïx's mouth. Then his fingers dug into her shoulders as he held her in a firm grip.

"I want you full attention." He repeated into her exposed ear. Then he kissed her. It was strange even though Saïx's nails definitely was clawing into her skin and even although his sharp teeth grazed her lower lip, X'ero realized that she was actually enjoying it when she wasn't automatically trying to space out. There was a prickling sensation everywhere they touched so X'ero put her arms around his neck and pressed their bodies together to make sure that they touched as much as possible. As she felt him press against her, she was not scared of the soon to be pain, but eager to gain a relive from the fire that had spread inside of her. It was so very different from what she had tried before.

"We don't have forever." Saïx stated and looked her in the eyes. X'ero nodded. It was funny. For the first time in her existence – both as X'ero and Nihil, X'ero actually believed that another person truly saw her as a woman.

* * *

><p>Demyx was sooo not the right for this job. His hands, feet and whole body were shaking, but Larxene had told him that if he didn't do this she would use him to sharpen his knives on – <em>after<em> she was finished kicking him where the sun don't shine. Convinced that Larxene meant it, Demyx could not see how he had a choice and snuck away in the middle of the mission to do the job for Larxene. He carefully looked around in the rubble.

"Hello, is there anyone? Scary knights?" It looked like they weren't there. Lucky him. Now he could tell Larxene that he had done what she asked without actually haven't done anything. He just loved it when he could lazy his way through work. Demyx turned around and shouted. The female knight was standing right behind him.

"I... I don't want to fight!"

"Then you should speak…"

"Two seconds…" Demyx fished his cue card out. "Engage the female target and persuade her into accepting the offer. Also don't be an idiot and read the card out loud…." Embarrassed Demyx put the card back into his pocket. "Could you pretend not to hear that?"

"…Just give me the offer…."

"It was something with Kingdom Hearts, and… lot of big words. It is all in here." Demyx tried to hand the knight an envelope, but his arm was smacked away by an armored hand.

"We do not work with your kind." The male knight, who turned up out of nowhere, said. The envelope flew out of Demyx hand and fluttered to the ground.

"Then I'll be going now." Demyx turned around and hastily disappeared through a portal.

Once they were sure that he was gone the male knight picked up the envelope.

"We should destroy this…" he said. "But we should at least read it first."

* * *

><p>Saïx was tying his shoelaces while trying to figure out what to say to X'ero. It was not that he cared if it was impolite to fall into silence after what they had just done; he was just sure that X'ero had some right to know the truth.<p>

"X'ero…" Saïx said without looking at her. "You know I mentioned something about an ultimatum…" Saïx stopped not quite sure how to explain it all to X'ero. When X'ero surprisingly came with no comment to his sudden silence, Saïx looked in her direction. X'ero had apparently rested against the cave wall as she got dressed and had somehow managed to fall asleep against the rocky support. The long side of her green hair fell over her face.

Saïx watched her sleep. Wasn't the saying usually that worries was erased from the face when sleep overtook the mind? X'ero certainly didn't look peaceful; in fact she seemed to be in pain. Saïx reached out to wake her from the nightmare, but quickly changed his mind. Nightmare or not, X'ero had trouble sleeping without her drugs. It had to be healthier for her to fell naturally into sleep. Instead of waking her Saïx grabbed the coat which she had yet to put on and dropped it over her. He kneeled beside her and carefully placed his arm around her shoulders so he could tilt her until she was resting against his chest. Saïx slipped his other arm under her legs and lifted her.

X'ero stirred, but didn't wake. With some trouble Saïx succeeded in opening the portal and as he stepped into the path leading to the Organization he looked down at X'ero resting against him. It was as if he could feel her through the cloak, Saïx couldn't remember when he had last been so oversensitive to a girls touch. X'ero suddenly stirred once more, her lips moved and she clutched the fabric of his cloak in a desperate grip. Her gloves appeared and Saïx knew in that second that she was losing control again.

"Wake up!" He shook her body to no avail. "X'ero, wake up now!" Last time he could wake her with water. Why couldn't he shake her awake now? The darkness had already spread from her gloves and into feathers, circling around them.

"…Prove I'm better…" Words were escaping X'ero's moving lips.

"X'ero, we'll both be harmed if you don't stop…"

"Don't care… I'll destroy you, me, everyone until I have proved that I'm worth something…" It was not X'ero who spoke. Saïx realized. It was the darkness stored deep in her mind. The feathers were now completely surrounding them.

"X'ero, please wake up!" Saïx considered dropping her, but that was properly too late. Zexion had managed to stop it last time. What had he done? Comforted her? "Please, X'ero..." Without thinking Saïx did what he always did and softly stroke her green hair behind her ear. The movement of the feathers suddenly stopped. For the eyes of Saïx the dark colour bled away from the feathers as they melded back into the small mages in his arms. A single feather did not dissolve but fell on her chest now in a green color only matched by her hair. Saïx picked it up. It was emitting strange warmth he hasn't notice before. He decided to keep it without saying anything to X'ero. She seemed to finally have fallen into a dreamless slumber, no reason to wake her because of a feather.

Nothing further happened on Saïx's way back to the Organization and he was able to place X'ero on her bed.

"This is goodbye…" Saïx said, and decided to quickly leave before she had the chance to wake up and protest.

Outside of her room he watched the green feather. He had to report back to Xemnas which he properly wouldn't survive. Somehow it was as if the feather spoke too: "Pride is and emotion too." Hadn't X'ero said that to him once? Was he really willing to lose his existence just because he thought it was dishonorable to flee? If he ran Xigbar would be sent to track him down, but if he reported to Xemnas he had to face Xemnas or be transformed into a dusk. Saïx was convinced he could defeat Xigbar, but fleeing was just beneath him… The green feather was almost as soft as X'ero's hair. She was a survivor. She would want him to flee.

"Ahh…" Demyx appeared through a portal and jumped when he saw Saïx. "I've absolutely not done anything bad."

"...I've have no idea what you are talking about." Saïx said. "And I don't care. It is not my problem anymore." Saïx vanished through his own portal, leaving the confused Demyx behind. None of them were his problem anymore. The only one he regretted leaving was X'ero, but she wouldn't have followed him anyway.

* * *

><p>"I don't care if he jumped on your head!" Nihil crossed her arms in anger. "I told you to scram!"<p>

"You really know how to make a man feel wanted." The white haired witch screeching didn't make Axel's head ache any less. Saïx had decided to kick him hard in the head before leaving, just to prove some kind of point. Sure, Axel still existed, but he was not sure the headache was worth it. "Why can't you just trust me?"

Nihil held two fingers up:

"One: I'm generally an untrusting person. Two: _If_ I'm going to start trusting people I won't start with a traitor."

"What?" Axel spun towards Nihil. "To you information _I_ have never turned on _you_."

"Yet! Mention one person who you haven't betrayed."

"…Roxas."

Nihil rolled her eyes:

"He was the nothing of the keyblade master, right? Did you not kidnap his girlfriend just so _you_ could get _your_ friend back? Did you even stop to consider if that was what Roxas want? Or was it just your own selfish need?"

"SHUT UP!"

Nihil barely managed to dodge the fireball that was aimed at her.

"How DARE you speak of things you know nothing of?" Axel more shouted than asked. The air surrounding him burst into flames. "You are nothing, but a stupid, little witch who knows nothing of friendship, hearts or pain."

"Calm down!" Nihil ordered as she backed away from the pulsating heat. "You don't have a heart, so it is not like you can get angry."

"I don't care. I'm so pissed off right now!"

Nihil could tell from the increasing rapidity of the pulsating fire that the whole room soon would be engulfed in flames. She franticly searched for her echo, but with the direct connection served she couldn't find it. Instead she screamed as the whole room was drowned in flames.

As the inferno began to die out a cloaked figure jumped down to the scene.

"My, my…" he said as he lightly kicked till Axel's unconscious body. "If I had known you were going to kill the witch. I wouldn't have bothered following you in the first place. Not point in tracking a dead target."

A crackling sound was heard from one of the corners of the room and a blue beam hit the figure square in the chest. His hood fell down and revealed Xigbar as he was pushed into the wall by the force of the attack.

"Don't!" Nihil snapped as she appeared, completely unharmed. "Count me out yet!"

"How did you survive that?" Xigbar asked while he discreetly took a potion from his backpack.

"I can absorb all magic attacks, fire attacks included."

"Not in that form." Xigbar stated. "You are not a heartless anymore, little lady. You cannot absorb magic anymore,"

Nihil smiled that eerie smile that proved her relation to X'ero.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

No, Xigbar wasn't sure of anything, so he decided to at least heal the wound he had received, but the potion bottle exploded between his hands as soon as he touched the lid. A strange smell filled the air and Xigbar could feel himself becoming drowsy.

"Not good!" Xigbar felt to the floor as his eye closed.

Nihil blinked. _That_ she hadn't seen coming. She sighed, unsure of what to do now. Her first instinct was to kill both Nobodies, but she wasn't sure who exactly the one eyed Nobody was and if it, perhaps, would be better to keep him alive. Her eye went to Axel as she realized that she properly still needed his knowledge.

* * *

><p>X'ero slowly opened her eyes. She had had a terrible nightmare about the time Nihil had lost her heart. The barrier she had kept the darkness behind had been completely eroded, but her mind seemed clearer than usual. X'ero looked around with sleepy eyes. She was back in her own room. Saïx must have carried her there. It was first then that X'ero discovered Zexion sitting on her chair at her table with a blank look on his face.<p>

"Your skin has a foreign scent of moonlight and darkness on it." He said. X'ero immediately knew what he was referring to.

"I'm sorry." She said. All though she wasn't quite sure what it was she was apologizing for.

"I told you not to use your body as a weapon."

"I didn't… It was not like I gained anything from it. Saïx was just persistent and… "Her words sounded wrong even in her own ears. "I… It's just… It's because…"

"Why do you think that you need an excuse?" Zexion interrupted before X'ero managed to be completely tongue tied.

"I don't know…"

"So… Was it good?"

"Should you really be asking that?"

"I _am_ asking."

Zexion's line of question made her extremely uncomfortable.

"Actually… it was good. I never realized that it could be so… exciting."

"That's perfect then." There wasn't even a hint of sarcasm in Zexion's voice. X'ero didn't know why, but it upset her, and before she knew it she was out of the bed and had slammed her hands into the table. Her aggressiveness surprised herself.

"Why do you react that way?" She asked.

"How do you want me to react, X'ero?"

Confused again X'ero sat down again.

"I don't know."

"But I do." Zexion said. "You want me to be jealous and angry." X'ero looked up surprised. "But I can't be that, X'ero. No heart, remember."

"I know that."

"But I am flattered that you obviously want me to be possessive of you, and truth to be told: Had I not gone to sleep I would never had allowed any form of intimacy between you and Saïx. I went to sleep, though, and when I woke up I could see that Saïx had managed to build some kind of sexual tension between the two of you. It was then I realized that you are right."

"I'm right?" X'er was pretty sure that when it came to relationships she was never right.

"Jealousy is a feeling and we are on a step of evolution ladder where we no longer need feelings. It was much better for me to allow Saïx to change your view of sex. More much logial."

"My view?"

"You said it yourself: It felt good!" Zexion leant forward. "X'ero, you don't have to have either reproduction or killing people in mind when it concerns intimacy. Sometimes people are together because they belong together and it physically just feels right. We are two such people."

"But you warned me against it!" X'ero protested. Zexion shrugged.

"Of course I did. I wanted you to 'feel' that it was wrong being with Saïx - even if I knew you would eventually do it."

"Why did you not just tell me this from the beginning? Would that not be simpler?" Not that Zexion ever did anything simple.

"You would have refused to believe me, ran away and/or even tried to kill me." Zexion stated.

X'ero couldn't really argue against that. She _had_ run away when Saïx had 'confessed', and she had technically tried to kill him too.

"X'ero, you want to be with me too." Zexion insisted. "That is the reason why you were displeased by my reaction."

"That does make sense." X'ero agreed.

"Good." Zexion moved beside her and placed his hand on top of hers. "And you don't need to worry about Saïx' reaction. He has fled from the Organization."

"What?"

Zexion smirked and his image suddenly changed, and Xemnas was sitting beside her:

"I've never trusted you." He quoted. "But I trusted your ambition."

"It was you all the time?" X'ero asked. Zexion transformed back to his normal self, and nodded. "What about Xigbar? He obviously knew about it."

"I had to cast the illusion on Xigbar too." Zexion said. "Saïx would not have believed it if Xigbar hadn't been taunting him." Zexion looked thoughtful. "I'll need to do something about Xigbar when he gets back." Zexion stood up. "I should properly get to it." He paused at the door. "Do me the favor and take a bath. I may not be able to be jealous, but the sooner his scent is of you the better."

* * *

><p>Ns: And this was it for this week. The next will be up next week. (And I better get starting on writing the new chapters.)<p> 


	37. Chapter 37:Once a Traitor

NS: Next bunch, I guess. I better starts working on the new chapters, now since we are one or two or three cluster of chapters away from catching up to where we were. Also the cluster of chapters are absoletly in my opnion the weakest, but I hope that I have bettered them a little.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts or Disney.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 37: Once a Traitor... <strong>

Saïx might be one of the Nobodies with the largest stamina, but six days of randomly jumping from world to world could take the toll of even the strongest, and because he had seen no one from the Organization yet Saïx assumed that he had a good enough distance from any pursuers. Tired he rested his head against the stone slab. A grave yard was not the coziest place to rest, but he preferred an abandoned place. Saïx did not know the world he had arrived in, but there was a good chance he would stick out with his ominous clothes, characteristic hair and obvious scar. Saïx knew that he needed to do something to disguise himself, he just didn't know what. Through his half-closed eye lids, Saïx suddenly noticed the movement of humans in the grave yard, unfortunately they seemed to have noticed him too and was moving towards him. Irritated he jumped down from the large grave he was sitting on and summoned his claymore. It was first when the group arrived that Saïx noticed his hood had fallen down with the movement.

"..."

"..."

Neither Saïx nor the group said everything. They were a bit more dark-skinned than the majority of people Saïx had noticed during the day and he believed he had seen the woman with the goat dance somewhere. What was the term he had heard again: Gypsies. That was what they were.

"Are you a soldier?" Finally one of the men spoke.

"..." Saïx didn't answer. They were mere humans. He could easily take them out, but... leaving a trail of dead bodies was not ideal.

"Of course he is not a soldier." It was the woman with pet goat who stepped forward. "Look he is branded."

Saïx absentminded touched his scar. Did it look like a burn mark? Perhaps in the weak evening light...

"What did you do?" One of the men asked. "Murder someone?" His eyes sought out the claymore. Saïx thought it through. He remembered hearing some words from what seemed to be the legal force in this world about these people: Thieves, scum, witches. These people were really thought low of.

"I was falsely accused." There was a muttering amongst the group, but it didn't look like they were ready to believe him just yet. "...For witch craft, just because I look... this way, and don't believe in their god."

The murmur grew angrier, but the rage didn't seem to be an anger directed at him. Finally the woman with the pet goat stepped forward.

"You can pull you own weight, right?" Behind her the men were moving was moving what seemed to be a stone lid on a casket.

"Of course."

"In that case we might know a place of miracles."

* * *

><p>X'ero sighed deeply and rested her head in her hands. Now that Saïx had left the Organization, X'ero had gained a new found respect for him. How in Kingdom Hearts' name did he manage to do all this: First there was the issue of missions – the jobs had to be divided between the members and after that a detailed report of the success or failure of the mission had to be written of Xemnas, then there was the moogle; it seemed that Saïx had to approve of everything it sold in its store periodically, then there was the lesser Nobodies. Saïx had apparently being keeping check of the ones that weren't part of one of the member's personal squad, finally there was the castle which had to be maintained and cleaned, X'ero doubted that Saïx had done it personally, but he had still been responsible for it - to add to all that there was Rikku who was human and thus, prisoner or not, needed a regular intake of food. How Saïx had managed all that, and still went on missions and had trained her too, was beyond X'ero - just as it was beyond her how she had been saddled with this work.<p>

X'ero sighed once more. She had been doing that a lot lately. A familiar presence emerged behind her.

"You know..." Zexion said as he leant over her shoulder to look at her work. "You don't have to do this."

X'ero knew. It had just ended up that way. X'ero had been surprised to discover that she was capable of entering Saïx's quarters, but it had helped her formulate a plan. She had found the mission assignment, and had told the other Nobodies that Saïx had contracted an illness from the moon in Royal Habour and would be temporally sick. She was not sure any of them had believed the lie, but they had accepted it because they, like her, didn't wanted to be the one to tell Xemnas that his right hand man had gone missing. X'ero had thought that she perhaps could buy Saïx a day or two before Xemnas discovered his absence, but now it was close to a week and no one had commented on it yet.

"I'm sorry." She said to Zexion. "But I owe it to Saïx to at least buy him some time to make an escape."

Zexion placed his hands on her shoulder.

"I know that you have your own sense of loyalty, but what if Saïx sides with one of our enemies?"

"He won't." X'ero said. "He would not be able to tolerate Sora, the knights would view him as too 'evil' to work with and Axel is with Nihil. You know that already." X'ero looked down on the papers. "Besides I'm out of options. Once I have finished this report, I'm out of mission assignments. It looks like Saïx only planned a week in advance."

"That is understandable. We want to weaken the keyblade monsters before Kingdom Hearts is completed by taken as many of the Light Hounds as possible out. They are the main attack force."

"When is Kingdom Hearts completed?" X'ero tried to hide the worry in her voice. It was not that she didn't trust Zexion to be true to his promise, but... She looked out of the window to the heart formed moon... Kingdom Hearts was so near to completion that the energy from it was beginning to interfere with X'ero's scanning ability.

"I need one more month to convince Xemnas of my view. He is stubborn you know, and I have to be subtle. One month, that is all."

X'ero nodded.

"I trust you." She said.

"It is getting late." Zexion said. "Won't you wrap this up, and come to our room?"

X'ero nodded once more, while she briefly wondered when Zexion had started talking about _his_ room as _theirs_. He left before her, but X'ero soon finished the report and handed it to a dusk. At least she had learned how to summon those, but Saïx had never managed to learn her how to summon those personal Nobody-things.

Done with everything X'ero stretched her body and yawned, but she didn't have time to leave her own quarters before someone knocked. X'ero didn't bother to answer. The two people she knew who would enter her room were Zexion and Larxene. Zexion saw it as his right to come and go as he pleased and Larxene just barged in. To her surprise the knocking continued.

"Come in." She said, and a timid looking Demyx entered.

"Uhh..." he said. "You know what, never mind." He made to leave again, but X'ero stopped him with a hand movement.

"What is going on?"

* * *

><p>Demyx led her outside the castle and into the city. The thought that it was a trap <em>did<em> enter X'ero's mind, but she couldn't think Demyx capable of going to the trouble to plan such a thing.

"I don't know how to ask you this." Demyx said.

"Then I can't answer you."

"Are we... are we still a group? Do I still have to help you and Larxene?"

"Marluxia's death changed thing." X'ero said. "Larxene and I don't require you help right now – that is all, but the deal is still intact. We will not just sacrifice you, and we will warn you if Xemnas attempt to do it again."

It puzzled X'ero why Demyx chose now to worry about his status in the Organization, but perhaps he had finally realized that Marluxia's disappearance had changed the dynamics in the Organization.

"But I think that you might do it." Demyx paused. "I've been thinking about it all week, and I have to say this."

"Say what?"

Demyx looked straight at her.

"All I want..." He said. "...is to be let alone with my sitar. I don't want to be mixed up in politics. It is far too much work."

"I know you think that."

"And I think you are much calmer than Larxene, I can speak sense with you, right?"

X'ero said nothing she had really no idea what Demyx was getting at.

"That is why I'm going to ask you a favour." Demyx straighten up as his eyes suddenly gleamed with a resolve X'ero rarely saw in the water user. "Stop forcing me to do stuff. If you don't... I'll tell Xemnas everything."

"Are you threatening me?" X'ero asked and summoned her gloves. Demyx eyed her weapon.

"I won't fight you, but forcing me to speak to the knights, is just not fair."

X'ero's gloves dissolved in her confusion:

"I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about."

"I'm not _that_ stupid." Demyx stated with a hint of bitterness. "You and Larxene are working together, and Larxene forced me to contact the knights. I want it to stop!"

"Wait what?" X'ero went from confused to terrified - if the knights had any information on the Organization... "You idiot! What did you tell them?"

"You know!"

"No, I don't. I swear it. Listen, Demyx. You have to believe me." She was not convincing him. She could see it in his body langue. "You said it yourself. We're allies so you can trust me."

"You are lying." Demyx stated. "You are the kind of person who hurts even their closest friends."

"What do you mean?"

"You teamed up with Marluxia even though Zexion is your closet friends and one of the original six, and Saïx really care for you, but you made him disappear."

"No he doesn't, and I haven't done anything to Saïx."

"I don't believe it. I think..." Demyx took in a deep breath. "I think you killed him."

X'ero starred shocked at Demyx. He looked genuinely angry, but then again... her eyes went to his chest, she guessed that Demyx had the means to be angry now. For some reason X'ero was eager to prove Demyx wrong. She grabbed his sleeve and dragged him into the Proof of Existence.

"Look!" She ordered and pointed towards the Lunar Diviner.

"There is nothing strange about that."

"Exactly. If I have killed Saïx wouldn't the light had turned off?"

Demyx looked at her and blinked a couple of times then his mouth dropped open.

"That's right! Saïx has to live."

"If you can call what we do living..." X'ero added.

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!"

"Really it is all right, but you need to trust me and tell me what Larxene said."

"I know, but after Marluxia died I just didn't know if we were a team anymore and then Larxene began to order me to do scary stuff and..."

"Shut up!" X'ero harshly said. "We should discuss this, but not here. What if..."

X'ero stopped when she noticed a movement in the shadow. To her distress the one person she didn't wish to see right now emerged from the shadow.

"What if I were to overhear it?" Xemnas finished her sentence.

Demyx froze, X'ero, too, went into alert mode.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"It was late. I was simply retiring, but perhaps the three of us need to have a little chat."

Demyx mouth opened to spew excuses, but X'ero's hand clamped over it.

"I don't think so." She said.

"But I think so."

"Very well." X'ero removed her hand from Demyx and shot him a look which hopefully told him to shut up. Unfortunately she couldn't verbally communicate with Demyx do to Xemnas being so close. Demyx looked at her with a begging expression, and X'ero knew that it was up to her to get them out of this situation. Her eyes passed over Zexion's tombstone as they followed Xemnas to the throne room. If she just could get the message through to him.

* * *

><p>Xemnas was the leader, there was no questioning that, and he was everything but stupid. He knew that in a group made of heartless beings, everyone was bound to look out for their own personal goals before they looked out for the Organization's, but he had always been convinced that he could control them. Xemnas watched the green haired girl. She had been under suspicion for allying with Marluxia, but Zexion had vouched for her... It didn't change the fact that Xigbar and Saïx had disappeared, Xemnas was convinced that the girl at least had something to do with the disappearance of his right hand man. Xemnas eyes locked on Demyx. When Zexion vouched for X'ero he hadn't mentioned Demyx being involved. Did that mean that Zexion was hiding something?<p>

"X'ero, Demyx." Xemnas deliberately used their names. "I'm going to ask you this once, and you better answer truthfully: Are you currently involved in overthrowing me as the leader of the Organization?" He watched their reaction carefully. Demyx looked nervous, but that was hardly surprising. For a moment Xemnas thought he saw the corner of the girls lips tug a little upward, but then it was gone and the girl's face was completely blank. It seemed she was fighting to control her facial expression.

"I'm not going to bother to answer that." X'ero calmly said. "It would be completely pointless."

True, the point of the question was to see how they would react, but he could use her words to determine the real problem: Did she respect him as the leader or not?

"I don't care what your opinion of my question is. But I, as your _superior_, asked you question and I expect you, _XV_, to answer it to the fullest of your abilities."

The only reaction from X'ero was a lifted eyebrow when Xemnas had empathized their ranking.

"I know that you have developed a case of really _bad memory,_ but as I already have said I won't bother answering pointless question." X'ero imitated the way he had emphasized his words. "As for you being higher ranking - believe me I have _always_ been aware of that."

Suddenly Xemnas wasn't sure that she was simply mocking him. The hint towards the loss of his memory was obvious enough, but the way she had emphasized 'always'… There had always been something familiar about her.

"Aware and respecting are not the same thing. You do not want to challenge me, X'ero."

"I do not challenge people." X'ero stated. Xemnas inwardly disagreed as he was pretty sure she was doing just that in the moment. "If I wanted you dead, I would attempt to poison you." Was it just Xemnas or was her visible eye beginning to glow. "So do not see it as a challenge that I dare to give you an advice." For the first time X'ero seemed to actually contemplate her words. "The past is the past. Sure, some part if it may lay safely hidden in the _darkness_, and if you wait patiently enough then perhaps one day there might be a reason to shed some light on it. After all, so long the darkness exist its past secret will be safe."

At the end of her speech, X'ero no longer managed to sustain an expressionless face. Her mouth had twisted into a creepy position, which Xemnas _supposed_ was a smile, but it was so warped by ill intent that it made her seem inhuman.

He had seen that smile before... If just... if he could just remember it, but that of course was the whole point of her little speech. They had met before, X'ero knew him – knew about him. What she was saying was basically: Kill me and you'll never know the truth. Xemnas tried to fold his hands in order to pretend that he was calmly was listening to her 'advice'. The truth was that he had to hide how his hands shook with suppressed indignation. How dared she... how dared she try to _coerce_ him?

They glared at each other – or rather Xemnas glared at X'ero who met his glare with a glowing eye. Xemnas thought his option over. Zexion would never stand for an imprisonment of the witch. Xemnas risked that the tactician would choose her over the Organization and then he would lose another important member. For now his only option seemed to be to wait for the return of Xigbar. Xemnas would get the spy to focus solely on how to get the truth out of this girl, but until then... He could not afford to lose to a wielder of darkness. He would just have to wait for an opportunity to find a way to control her. They had managed to put a leash on Saïx, she too would share that fate.

"You are right." Xemnas agreed. "With Marluxia's death it doesn't matter who worked with him, so for now you..." X'ero's eye went to Demyx in a telling movement. "For now you _two_ are off the hook."

Demyx breathed out in relief.

"However, don't think that this is over, X'ero."

"I know. It isn't over until Kingdom Hearts is completed." X'ero shrugged.

"That will only be about a week from now. Both of us know that it isn't going to end there."

"WHAT?" The outburst from the female startled to men in the room. "What did you say?"

"Both of us..." Xemnas was surprised that X'ero seemed shocked with that revelation. A girl so well known in the way of threats and betrayals, couldn't think that Xemnas was actually going to let the Members go their own way once they had a heart. He had plans for them, plans of power, of the domination of worlds.

X'ero shook her head.

"Before that. About Kingdom Hearts. I don't care for any world domination future you might have had."

"It will be finished in about a week. You have been really helpful there, actually."

"A week, huh? Then I guess I have no choice." She turned to Demyx. "You want to leave now." She said. "You are not a traitor and you don't want to be caught up in this."

Demyx seemed he couldn't understand the meaning behind her words. Xemnas too was confused about her sudden change of tone.

Two black gloves materialized around X'ero hands. Even from his throne, Xemnas could tell that they were made of pure darkness.

"There are some actions," Xemnas warned. "that I cannot pretend to forgive."

"I know." X'ero said. "It is a pity that I had to waste all that time coercing you, when it ends in this."

Then she aimed one of her spells at him.

* * *

><p>Zexion was passing the time he spend waiting for X'ero by reading in one of his anatomy books. A frantic knocking on the door disturbed his studies, and knowing that X'ero would never make such a ruckus, Zexion only unwilling stood up to respond. It was a panicked Demyx that greeted him and before Zexion had time to ask he was grabbed by the arm and literally dragged away.<p>

"Wait!" Zexion protested. "I'm not taking one step further."

"But you have to stop them!" Demyx said. "They are killing each other."

"I'm going to need a little more explanation than that."

Demyx let go of him.

"But there is no time." He said.

"You will just have to take the time to tell me the short version."

"First Larxene was like: Contact the knights or... and then I was like: I don't trust you and then X'ero was like: You have to trust me and then Xemnas was all suspicious and X'ero was all scary and Xemnas was like: You can go, and now they are fighting."

Zexion couldn't help, but briefly wonder if he perhaps should have asked for the coherent version instead.

"I didn't understand the finer details of your narrative." He said. "But from what I gained I do not think I should get involved."

"But X'ero is your friend so you have to stop them!"

"X'ero is my _girlfriend_," Zexion corrected. "And from what I gained from you there is not much I can do now. In fact I'm just going back to my room and pretend this conversation never happened."

"But..."  
>Zexion lifted a hand to stop the protest.<p>

"_I_ cannot help you." Zexion said. "Perhaps you should go to final member of your group."

"I don't think Larxene..."

"Larxene likes X'ero, and she really doesn't like Xemnas." Zexion stated. "You just have to phrase right. How about something like: X'ero has moved."

"X'ero has moved? You really think Larxene would help if I said that?"

"I guarantee it."

With that Zexion left Demyx alone to act on his advice as he pleased. He _did _go back to their room, and went straight to that part of his desk were X'ero kept her poison-making tools, he took one of the smallest tools and quickly left their quarters again while he summoned his lexicon.

* * *

><p>Soon after Zexion arrived in the control room, Lexaeus was still there doing the days last maintenance of the barrier. He turned around shortly and gave Zexion a short nod of as if he acknowledged his presence.<p>

"I had an encounter with Demyx." Zexion explained. "He mentioned something about the two knights, and I have a bad premonition." Zexion looked at the open lexicon and rechecked the newest entry. "We only have X'ero's information on the monsters. The knights controlling them, we know nothing about them... If they somehow got in."

"They won't!" But Lexaues still turned the computer on to check the mainframe. Zexion was not the type to worry without a reason, to Lexaues's surprise the screen on the computer wasn't working. All it showed was a big empty blue screen.

"A virus?" Zexion suggested.

Lexaues said nothing. None of the keys were working so Lexaues saw no other option than to cut the power from the screen and hope that it was only the screen that had stopped working. The problem was that it was wireless and the main computer was packed away deep inside a secure room which could only be accessed by taking the secret staircase hidden under desk - Not an easy way to go for the large man, but Lexaues didn't have a choice.

"I could do it." Zexion offered. "I'm smaller."

Lexaues shook his head. The security system was his responsibility. He signalled Zexion to move a bit and bowed down to crawl under the table, when suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his neck. Lexaues hand moved upwards and removed a small herbal knife. He looked at Zexion.

"I'm sorry if you feel any unnecessary pain. X'ero has an awful habit of not cleansing her herbal-knife when she has finished using it. I might have some residue of poisonous plants on."

That was not the point. Nobodies didn't have a hearts - physical as well as emotional, so there was no organ to pump the blood around, but they were still able to digest the food they ate – they had to have other internal organs. In fact studies of their bodies had allowed the Nobodies to discover that besides their heart they had all their organs, and instead blood, pure nothingness was pushed through their veins by a subconscious will in their brains.

Even though Lexaues knew that, even though he knew he could technically not die from blood loss. His body, however, remembered that if the carotid artery was cut open he would lose a fatal amount of blood. In fact Lexaues could feel his body growing cold as if the warm life-sustaining liquid, that he did not have, was leaking out of him in a far too quick speed. Black particles of his body were already returning into the nothingness. He took a step towards Zexion with a heavy leg to at least gain revenge upon the young man who had wounded him. But Zexion simply pointed to something behind him. Lexaues tried to look over his shoulder and saw the computer screen, now functioning normally. No it had never stopped working. The blank screen had been an illusion all along. When he turned his attention back to Zexion, the illusionist had vanished into thin air. Lexaues dropped to his knees in order to sustain himself. Even in his final moment he did not bother to speak to the other who properly still was somewhere in the room. He just thought that they had made a mistake in teaching the young Ienzo that it was morally defendable to remove his elders if he thought it served a higher purpose.

When Zexion reappeared, Lexaeus had already vanished. He calmly stepped up to the screen and although if wasn't him who had made the security program, Zexion easily found the part that controlled the barrier access:

I: In/Out

II: In/Out

III: In/Out

IV: In/Out

V: -

VI: In/Out

VII: In/Out

VIII: -/Out

IX: In/Out

X: In/Out

XI: -

XII: In/Out

XIII: -/-

#¤V: in#-#

XV: in/out

For the advance barrier it controlled the program was extremely easy to analyse and Zexion's experienced fingers flew over the keybord as it hacked the program and began to change the status of the Nobodies. The 'in' option was removed for Saïx and Xigbar, and then he went down to X'ero and removed the 'out'. Demyx suddenly popped up in his mind. Whatever it was out of fear or of a loyal heart, Demyx seemed to have a certain degree of loyalty towards X'ero. To be sure he removed Demyx's option of leaving as well.

"I'm sorry, X'ero." He mumbled. Once X'ero would realize the truth, she _could _overreact, but she had always listened to him in the end, and Zexion would not have her running away until she understood everything. Not with Saïx out there somewhere, still existing.

* * *

><p>Ns: Zexion, I'm not sure that was a smart move.<p>

Zexion: Of course it was a smart move. I know what I'm doing.

X'ero: He always does.

Xemnas: We're are in the middle of a fight.

X'ero:


	38. Chapter 38: Dark Battle

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or the characters related to Kingdom Hearts.

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><p><strong>Chapter 38: Dark Battle<strong>

"What I don't understand is why." A red blade sliced the air where X'ero had been two seconds ago. "Why go through all that trouble of blackmailing me when you choose to attack anyway? What made you suddenly change your mind about me?"

X'ero clasped her hand together while she ignored Xemnas question.

"Dark-firoga!" Xemnas sidestepped the tornado coming his way, but even if he hadn't dodged he was properly capable of blocking her spells. X'ero had taken the opportunity to hide behind one of the large thrones and her eye scanned Xemnas or rather his weapon. Ethereal blades... They were different from the twin swords he had wielded when they had been acquaintances; in fact X'ero was not even sure that they could be called swords. Her scanning picked up no magical energy from them, and they were definitely not made of metal – nothingness, pure nothingness was Xemnas affinity, if she wanted to damage him at all she had to rely on the darkness.

Suddenly Xemnas disappeared in a mix of darkness and nothingness, recognizing a teleport move when she saw one X'ero moved her attention from his weapon to the energy of the man himself – after all Xemnas was one of those touched by darkness which was something she could always track. To her surprise she felt him just above her. She looked up and saw Xemnas standing on the throne. X'ero was sure that she couldn't block him if he attacked her by jumping down.

Well if Xemnas teleported... X'ero vanished from the floor and reappeared on the throne opposite from the one Xemnas was standing in.

"Dark-thunderga!" The laser-like thunder beam went straight at Xemnas who conjured up a square formed barrier. His blade went from their fast form into energy circling his hands and the black and white threads of nothingness floated through the air towards her. Since she couldn't use reverse X'ero saw no other option than teleport to another throne. She couldn't afford being bound by Xemnas.

Her dark-thunder spell had proved to X'ero that without her mental barrier she had no problems drawing strength from the power of darkness. It was so easy to see Xemnas as the person she had known and draw darkness from those memories. Too easy in fact. This would cause a drawback if she wasn't careful.

"Double darkthunder. "

This time her thunder beam shook Xemnas barrier, and she could see on his face that it had actually hurt him. Before she had time to an inwardly celebration, Xemnas did something with his weapons and X'ero was suddenly surrounded by at circle of red laser beams. Not wanting to be pierced X'ero saw no other option than jumping down on the floor. She landed awkwardly on the floor and tried not to show that it had hurt her feet. Xemnas chose the much smarter option of teleporting down.

"Do you honestly believe that you have a chance of defeating me?" Xemnas asked. "You've made a fool of yourself by thinking that you can be better than me."

"Why do you always have to think that the whole universe is centered around you?" X'ero asked. "The only reason I even bother with you, is because you have to go in order for me to destroy Kingdom Hearts."

"Why would you want to destroy that? Do you have no idea how powerful..."

"I have no wish for power." X'ero claimed.

"That is credible coming from a darkness-user. So all that darkness just wandered into the heart of your Somebody by accident?"

"It wandered into her heart because _you_ poisoned it with magic. She never asked to be saved, she never asked to be one more of your experiments, but you don't care do you? You don't care now and you didn't care then about who has to be sacrificed to prove your theories." X'ero turned her head away. The memories were suddenly too fresh and for a moment she felt like she was close to forcing herself into a limit break.

"How did I lose my memory?" Xemnas asked taking a step forward. "What did you do? _Tell me!"_

"What did _I _do? _I?_" X'ero raised her voice as well failing to notice the aura of dark energy that was surrounding her. "I never did a damn thing to you."

Xemnas too was ignoring the darkness coming from X'ero:

"I do not believe that. You obviously have no fond memories of me, and I..." Xemnas suddenly stopped his accusation.

X'ero too reeled in her unreal anger as she too sensed a shift of power.

"A Nobody vanished within these walls." Xemnas said. "Lexaues..."

"Darkness..." X'ero mumbled. "Did it come from me?" She looked down at her hands, but the darkness had reformed into gloves.

The two looked at each other - Both in that second contemplating if there was a way out of the fight so they could search for the sources of their unrest, but before the small chance of peace could take wings a thunder loaded knife pierced the air as it flew straight at Xemnas.

X'ero looked in the direction of the knife.

"Larxene..." She stated not utterly surprised considering the weapon. More unreal was the person accompanying her. "Demyx, you are back?"

"Yeah... I guess we are in this together." He said and added in a much lower voice "...Unfortunately."

"So you are teaming up on me?" Xemnas more stated more than asked. "We can't have that now." Suddenly the room was shrouded in darkness. It was as if they were standing under the night sky where all the far away stars had turned red.

"Those lights..." Larxene asked. "Are they his...?"

"I think so..." The red lights were in every direction, and Xemnas had done something to the room so they couldn't teleport out through a portal. If all those lights came at them a once...

"I'm not good at blocking..." Demyx said. "That is really, really bad, right?"

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><p>"Yo, witchy!" Xigbar leant against the bar of the prison like room Nihil had thrown him in. "Couldn't you be a good little witch and remove those pentagram things so I can get out of here."<p>

Nihil ignored him.

"It was worth a try." Xigbar said.

"You didn't honestly think she was going to let you go?" Axel asked with a smirk.

Before Axel and Xigbar could continue their banter, Nihil turned up beside the fire wielder.

"We need to talk." She said and eyed Xigbar. "Privately."

A minute later they sat in her study. Despite her prior order of talking Nihil said nothing. Axel was beginning to think that the silence was getting awkward.

"You are not kicking me out again, are you?" He asked.

"No, I have a feeling that it wouldn't be of any use. Honestly you seem to be one of those people that you just can't get rid of." Nihil paused. "Which is why we need to talk. Are you going to betray me?"

"Are you going to attack Sora?"

"I have no interest in him."

"Then no. I don't think it would be wise to get on your bad side."

Nihil's lips tugged a little, very little, upward.

"Then I would appreciate your help. I have a rather complicated plan and it easier to do if we are two."

"I'm in - as long as it is not suicidal."

"Good." The flaming echo that Nihil had created long ago flew down and perched itself on Axel's shoulder. "Then you should keep that."

The silence spread again. Somehow Axel sensed that there was something else entirely that Nihil wanted to ask.

"If there is something on your mind you can ask. I'll only laugh if it's totally embarrassing."

To Axel's surprise a faint red taint actually appeared on Nihil's cheeks.

"It is nothing embarrassing." She claimed, but her voice gained a suspicious high pitch. "It is something that makes me _mad!_"

The bird on her shoulder flapped its wings.

"Big church!" It screamed. "And graveyard!"

Nihil put two fingers around its beak to shut it up.

"Your ex-friend is in a world with a church and a graveyard, apparently."

"That is not very precise. How do you know it anyway?"

"I don't." Nihil said. "The echoes do, which is why yours will able to take you to him."

"Last time I saw him he stood on my throat and then proceeded to kick me in the head." Axel rubbed the place that had had a close encounter with Saïx's boot. "I'm not eager to meet him right now."

"No?" Nihil pushed a stack of paper towards him. "Not even if I could give you something I think you desire?"

"What is this?" Axel took the top paper and tried to read it under Nihil's eerie gaze.

"Justice..." Her smile crept into its creepiest position. "Of the self-made kind."

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><p>Saïx looked at the clothes that Esmeralda, the goat girl, presented to him as if they would jump up and bite him.<p>

"I'm not wearing carnival clothes." He stated.

"But there is a festival tomorrow, and quite frankly you look evil in that coat. It is a good day to earn money."

"And what exactly do you propose I do?"

"You said that you got branded as a warlock because of your abilities to read in the star."

"Which is why I'm not particularly fond of doing it again in public."

"But tomorrow is different. All expect us to entertain with 'magic' tricks and other things like that. Nobody will believe that you can actually do it for real."

"I did agree to pull my own weight." Saïx just had a problem with the notion of entertaining someone. The main part of the costume was not that bad, both the top and the bottom part of it was a uniform blue colour , a little darker than his hair and while the style was old-fashioned it did not stand out compared to the group of outcast he had been involved with. His main problem was the last part of the costume.

"I'm not wearing a cape."

"You only have to wear that for tomorrow, and a mask, perhaps to hide your scar, but we don't have any other costumes in your size. Unless you want to perform on stilts."

"...I'll take the cape."

Wearing his new costume, Saïx crawled into the small tent the gypsies had lent him. Using his folded cloak as a pillow, Saix laid down on. Six and a half day without proper rest. If no one had followed him, he could allow himself to stay in this world for a couple of days, and perhaps figure out what to do with himself.

He stared at X'ero's feather. Even though he couldn't see the green colour, he could feel the warmth from it streaming down on his bare fingers. Saïx closed his eyes. He should really just had kidnapped X'ero, and worried about getting her to stay later. Consider himself safe Saïx actually allowed his mind to drift into sleep.

Saïx woke with a jolt. He was sure he had smelled something burnt. In the corner of the tent a burning feather was placed beside a stack of papers. Saïx went to stamp the fire out, but in the light of the small fire his eyes caught the headline of the top paper.

Echo Radiance Organism (I)

He should not read the papers, should not believe them; it was highly suspiciously how they gotten in here. But he couldn't help himself. As Saïx began to comprehend what it was saying, his hands shook as he violently had to suppress his rage from increasing - even if he was underground and as far away from a moon as he could be.

X'ero had lied to him. She had fucking lied.

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><p>When the attack stopped X'ero was gone. Her dark reflect sphere had appeared, and protected Larxene and Demyx, but X'ero herself had vanished. A little tired, Xemnas narrowed his eyes.<p>

"Where is she?"

"Like we would tell."Larxene loaded her knives with electricity and threw them. She glared at Demyx. "Get your ass moving!"

"But, X'ero..."

"She's fine. She always gets tired after using that feather-thing."

"And how do you know that?" Xemnas asked.

"X'ero told me." Larxene lied. "Why shouldn't she?"

X'ero was indeed tired, but no matter how tired she was, she was sure that her mind hadn't conjured up the paper dome that surrounded her nor did she imagine the body heat from the person holding a hand over her mouth.

"Shh..." She heard Zexion whisper. "If you are too loud the invisibility of the illusion will break. It also breaks if you touch one of the book pages."

X'ero nodded to signal that she had gotten the message. Zexion let go and handed her an ether.

"For your stamina," he whispered. "Listen, I have a plan, but I'm going to need some of your memories."

"My memories?"

"Anything that has to do with your and Xemnas past."

"I... I don't know..."

Zexion lifted his hand.

"X'ero..." He said. "We really don't have time for your denying it." He pushed his lexicon towards her. "Anything... Just concentrate on the first memory that crosses your mind."

X'ero hesitatingly placed her hand on lexicon.

"Only because you asked so nicely." She mumbled and concentrated on the first memory that crossed her mind.

"Dance water, da - arrgh!" Xemnas had very rudely stopped Demyx's prelude by attacking him.

"We don't have time to play with your water." Xemnas said and spun around just in time to block a paralyzing attack from Larxene.

"Dammit!" She cursed and kicked after Xemnas' square energy shield in frustration. To her surprise Xemnas removed the barrier just as her foot would have connected and because there suddenly was no resistance Larxene lost her balance and stumbled. In the split second it took before Larxene could regain her composure Xemnas used his bind ability to catch the swift woman.

"Shit!"

Before Xemnas had time to actually hurt Larxene, a tornado dark-blue fire swirled his way, and X'ero appeared from one of the thrones.

"Sorry for my absence." She said. "I had to take a temporally time out to regain my energy."

"You do not have the ability to just disappear." Xemnas stated.

"Perhaps I teleported."

Xemnas was not about to buy that. Teleportation was really just taking a super short turn through one of the portals, which was why there was limits to how far one could teleport and he had seen no darkness when X'ero had disappeared.

"No, if anyone teleported it was someone who could mask their movement... Someone who can hide behind their illusions..."

"That would be me then." Zexion stepped out from behind another throne.

"You are choosing the wrong side." Xemnas said.

"But, you said you weren't going to help." Demyx looked confused and X'ero moved up beside him to explain the situation in a hushed voice.

"Why don't I show you something?" There was a flutter of paper as they flew from the heavy book and stuck to the walls and the thrones. As the papers one by one covered everything the room changed. The thrones sank into the ground giving space to strange looking machines as the room slowly turned black. Knowing that it had to be one of Zexion's illusion Xemnas took as step towards the place where the illusionist had last stood, when suddenly his foot bumped into something. He looked down and saw green hairs as a different version of X'ero slowly rose to her feet.

"W..who..." Her eyes were hidden behind her green hair, equally long on each side. "W...who... a..am I?" She had trouble forming the question as if she couldn't quite remember how to speak. Her legs were not doing much better. They wobbled and shook as the muscles refused to do what the girl wanted, and she fell towards him and grabbed his coat which had suddenly turned blue.

"You!" She said. "There are pictures of you in my head. Telling me to do things." Her capability of speaking was slowly becoming steadier. "Who are you? Enemy?" A black aura was gathering around the girl. It was clear that she was unconsciously preparing to attack. Had Xemnas experienced the scene in a former life? It didn't matter. Even if it was a memory received from X'ero, there was no saying in how much Zexion had altered it, and with only two players in this act it was obvious which role Zexion was playing. Xemnas grabbed the girl's wrist.

"I know this is an illusion. How stupid do you think I am?" He summoned one of his blades with his free hand and prepared to strike the girl with it.

"Wait!" The illusion faded, and as Xemnas thought he had indeed captured Zexion. "Well," Zexion said. "I wasn't expecting you to fall for it."

Warned by the tone of victory in the voice of the smaller man and the melody playing, Xemnas looked around. Ten water clones were spread around the whole room. Xemnas saw X'ero pushing the last of them as far away from the other as possible. She caught his look and lifted four fingers:

"Four second left!" She said with and smug tone.

With the water clones as wide spread as they were Xemnas only chance to stop them was to use his final attack once more. He prepared to do it when he discovered that he couldn't release his grip on Zexion. The younger Nobody were using his free hand to crush Xemna's finger around his wrist.

"Let go!"

"No!"

Even though Zexion had no strength Xemnas still had to waste valuable second to free himself. He forced himself away from the others grip and summoned his weapons, but the music suddenly stopped. Without his consent his weapon disappeared, and he was suddenly drained from energy. Zexion stepped towards Xemnas and lifted his hand.

"Sleep!" He ordered, and with no resistance left the superior had no choice, but to obey.

"I don't understand." X'ero said as she helped Larxene free from the bind. "How exactly does Demyx's clones work?"

"Who knows? Demyx invented them – of course they defy all logic."

"Hey!" Demyx looked offended, but Larxene just grinned and gave him a hard, but friendly pat on the back.

"It was a compliment."

Convinced that they were okay X'ero walked towards Zexion who was busy weaving Xemnas into an even more powerful illusion.

"We can't have him waking up!" He said as he sensed X'ero approaching.

"You wanted me to attack him." X'ero stated. "You purposely said a month, when there was only a week left. What I don't understand is how you knew that Xemnas would tell me the correct deadline."

"He likes to talk – especially about Kingdom Hearts, and he would have to talk with you sooner or later. After all you took on the duties of Saïx."

"How long have you been working with Larxene?" X'ero asked. She noted Zexion's curious look. "Oh, come on. Larxene is up to something, and I don't think she planned it."

"You might be right..." Zexion stopped when he noticed X'ero turning her head around, searching for something.

"Can't you smell it?" She asked. "There is darkness in here." She looked down. "It's properly coming from me. I used it way too much in this fight."

Zexion placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It is all right. I'm sure the darkness won't take you over."

"Thanks for the..." X'ero froze before she could finish her sentence. The darkness she sensed was very similar to the darkness stored inside her, but yet it came not from her, but...

"Zexion, are you planning something ambitious?"

"Of course, it's..."

"No!" X'ero grabbed his arm. "It is enough now, Zexion. You've done enough. Please stop it! Please it's dangerous!"

"I never back down. My plans are perfect. You sound just like Ansem: Don't go any further it is dangerous. This is your own theory, X'ero so you cannot tell me to stop."

"What is my theory?"

Zexion smiled his knowing, cunningly smile and extended his hand.

"Follow me, and I'll explain."

X'ero involuntary took a step back.

She did not like this at all! Something was horrible out of place. Why could Zexion not see that?

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><p>Ns: Zexion is getting ambitious that can't be good.<p>

Zexion: And why is that? I'm a calm and collected person.

Ns:... And a mad scientiest who helped unlease darkness on the world.

Zexion: That what a miscalculation. This time, everything is thought through.


	39. Chapter 39: Disagreement

Ns: Anyway, X'ero will have one more of her loose control situation in this chapter, but since it is from her point of view this time. **I'll display the dark side of her in this writing**, and the normal side in normal writing.

X'ero: Zexion will come with a hard to understand theory of the growing a heart thing, I'll explain it properly once I've got time to digest it.

Ns (Knows what will happen): I hardly think you'll get time to think anything over.

Ns: Anyway this is the final chapter this week.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts.

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><p><strong>Chapter 39: Disagreement<strong>

X'ero looked with disgust at the almost completed heavenly object. It bathed both her and Demyx in a gentle light which did nothing, but rattle X'ero's senses into confusion.

"Why do you think we should wait here?" Demyx asked as he looked around with awe. It was his first time at the altar. Their other two accomplices were putting Xemnas in a 'safe place'.

"What do you think of Zexion?" X'ero asked without removing her eyes from the glowing object.

"Are you asking my opinion?" Demyx asked with surprise and a little hint of pride in his voice. X'ero nodded, and Demyx concentrated to really focus on the same subject for a lengthy amount of time. "I think that... Zexion was a little scary. He has never really talked to me, though. Perhaps that is how he usually is? I can't say what it was that scared me."

Before they could continue the discussing Zexion and Larxene appeared.

"Are you going to listen to my explanation calmly?" Zexion asked.

X'ero knew that he was upset with her because she had interrupted him before.

"I'll listen, but Zexion I'm..." X'ero was not really sure that she possessed the right dictionary to name what it was that she was. Worried, she briefly thought, worried came very close to describing it.

"It all comes down to how we view us nothings." Zexion walked some steps towards Kingdoms hearts. "We can either view ourselves as failed experiments that are dead to the world, or we can see ourselves as beings that in their death crossed onto the next step of the evolution ladder instead of being just ordinary humans." Zexion paused and looked at his audience. "Of course there is one problem with the second option and that is the fact that we are dead, incomplete, unfinished." He waved his hand. "But that is no longer the whole truth: Not after you" Zexion abruptly pointed at Demyx and the two females followed his lead and looked at the startled boy. "...Not after you grew a heart!"

"Demyx has a heart?" Larxene asked, forgetting everything about not interrupting the illusionist.

Zexion, however, didn't seem to mind. He was so absorbed in his explanation that any interruption only served as an excuse to explain in even more details.

"We do not know exactly what triggered it yet, but we believe that it was a continued behavioral pattern which slowly creates new memories which overwrites the old and therefore eventually establish a new person by the power of habit. If an extraordinary situation is applied to this new persona, and the ego is forced to remember a feeling neither its former self nor its new self is used to, the ego will not be able to distinguish between memory and genuine feeling and the contrast will create a burst of energy which will merge with the affinity and the nothingness and thus give birth to a 'spark' of life – so to speak – which will push the body from the state of dead to the state of alive by adding that which we are missing - a heart."

Zexion stopped his explanation and looked at the other three. Larxene's and Demyx's faces were completely blank and it was clear that they had not understood him, and from X'ero's concentrated look he could tell that she too was struggling to understand the whole of his explanation.

"It is still theories. I apologize for not yet being capable of explaining properly. Some test on Demyx is still needed."

Demyx didn't look to happy with that message and stepped a little backwards so X'ero was between him and Zexion.

"No matter how it came be." Zexion said. "I do believe that it is better than our current state. In fact I believe it is and even better state than when we were human. A step up the evolution ladder so to speak."

X'ero froze when she heard those words. It sounded eerily like something she had said.

"Zexion..." She began as she stepped forward and without thinking grabbed his hand. "I believe that too, you know that, but it stops with us, right?"

Orange and blue eyes met and X'ero saw the determination in the blue ones. She let go of Zexion's hand and it fell lifeless to his side without her support.

"It is not going to stop with us." She stated "You are a mad scientist. I had forgotten that."

"I do not agree with the mad part." Zexion said. "But I _am_ a scientist. Unlike witches who seek knowledge to further their own power, scientist seeks knowledge to better mankind. Having a heart ruled by your mind, is better and much more logical than a heart ruled by light and darkness."

"I was the one who said that having a heart only meant being in a constant conflict with oneself." X'ero said desperately. "I know that Zexion, but I do not think I have a right to prevent people of making their own mistake.

"Wait a minute!" Larxene interrupted them. "I know you two are together and all - but speak in a langue the rest of us can understand."

"Is it not simple to understand?" X'ero asked. "Zexion plans to use Kingdom Hearts to extract all hearts and thereby turn those of strong hearts into Nobodies."

"We are going to murder _everyone_?" Larxene shouted. Even she thought that was a bit drastic.

"It is not murder." Zexion hastily corrected her. "I'm evolving mankind and those like mankind into a higher state of being."

"So Nobodies are superior now?" Larxene said for once thoughtful. "That's new, but I like it." She grinned. "Hell, I like it a lot!"

"I knew you would, unfortunately..." Zexion turned to where X'ero and Demyx had been, they had both vanished. "X'ero disagrees with my method."

"You are not going after her?" Larxene asked.

Zexion shook his head.

"There is only six days until Kingdom Hearts is completed, and X'ero is no hero. She will not try to stop me, and this time she can't run away. Once she's cooled down she is going to let me do my own thing. I know her. If she can't run, she'll adapt."

* * *

><p>X'ero splashed the cold water from her bathroom into her face, she didn't remove her hands. The truth was that she couldn't bring herself to care about the nameless mass of innocent people that would be hurt by Zexion's plan.<p>

Zexion would never forgive her if she attempted to stop his plan – however crazy it was. His background story as Ienzo proved that. Zexion was her first, her only true friend and lately he was more. She would not sacrifice her relationship with him even if it meant the death of everyone else. She was sure that Zexion meant no harm to her, so she could allow herself to be selfish. Right?

"X...X'ero?" Demyx slowly stepped up behind her. He looked nervous. Perhaps that was not so strange. "I can't leave." He stated.

"Leave?" X'ero removed her hands from her face, giving Demyx a rare, one second look, of both her eyes.

"I don't want to be experimented on." Demyx said.

X'ero lifted her hands. She could gather darkness without a problem, but she couldn't form a portal to anywhere outside the World that Never Was.

"I think Zexion was afraid we would run." X'ero said. She was a little irked by the restriction of her free movement. Then suddenly she remembered Xemnas' statement under their fight. Had Zexion killed Lexaues? X'ero was willing to bet that he was behind the disappearance of Xigbar as well. He was certainly behind Saïx's depature. Suddenly another thought crossed her mind. Larxene had contacted the knights through Demyx and if Zexion was behind the latest movement of the knife-thrower...

"Demyx, you were a normal person once, right?"

"Uh..." Demyx rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably. "Fairly normal."

"So you had friends?"

"Of course."

"Then tell me. If your closest friend is doing something that may endanger him, would you stop him if the price you pay is your friendship?"

"That's a tough one, but certainly a friend would understand that you only have his best interests in mind."

"No, he wouldn't!"

"Then..." Demyx looked really uncomfortable. "I don't think I would do anything. It would be too much trouble and the result would be uncomfortable."

"Thank you!" But even if Demyx had legalized her resolution X'ero could find no peace in her mind. She didn't know what Zexion was up to with the knights, but it _had_ to be dangerous, and at the same time she was sure that she had sensed some darkness in Zexion.

She looked up at her own reflection in the mirror, the movement made her hair fell into place and a single shining orange eye looked back.

Zexion's eyes were still blue. He was attracting darkness, but he had not yet stepped over the invisible line between dark and light, but he _would_ if he continued down this path. People who were overtaken by darkness had only miserable existences. The struggles, the internal pain that was the price of power. Somehow the thought of Zexion overtaken by the darkness caused X'ero physical pain.

As if on cue X'ero felt the darkness inside her swell up. **She should kill Zexion, he was becoming trouble and...**

_NO!_

She dropped to the floor. How could she think that?

**But he was causing her distress. **

She could put up with a little trouble.

**He would hurt her if she trusted him. **

He had promised never to do that.

**He would be too powerful for her. **

It didn't matter he would never misuse his power.

**Problems should just be exterminated. **

Never in her existence would she do that.

Demyx, who could not see the internal battle going on inside X'ero, backed away as the room grew darker. The dark energy streamed from X'ero, but being unable to form into portals or summon her usual allies, the energy instead thickened into the air making it harder to breath.

Demyx was scared, he was really scared. X'ero's presence felt evil and was suffocating him. Then as suddenly as it had come it was gone and X'ero rose from the floor, completely composed and with a determined look in her eyes.

X'ero had decided. She could not let Zexion push himself into the darkness. Even if it was just the mind of the illusionist that was taken over, X'ero would not let him go through the hell she had been through. She just couldn't. It could mean his death or the loss of his sanity, and she would not allow that.

X'ero was a selfish person. She would rather hurt Zexion a little by standing up to him than she would forever be stuck with the guilt of knowing that she _could_ have done something for him and didn't. She didn't care if guilt was an emotion or not. She would definitely feel it, and she didn't wish to.

"Come Demyx, we are getting out of here."

"How?"

* * *

><p>Rikku sneezed, perhaps not a strange reaction considering that he was soaked to the bone.<p>

"Could you not have used a rope to get me up?" He asked.

"We didn't have one." X'ero said. She had deemed that filling the pit with water would be the easiest way to get Rikku up. After all she had a water user at hand and Riku could swim.

He sneezed once more.

"I do not wish to sound ungrateful, but last time we talked you poisoned me..."

"You attacked me first!" X'ero crossed her arms.

"I know, I just get the feeling that you aren't freeing me for my benefit."

"Demyx and I need an exit. We can't open a portal out."

"What makes you think I can?"

"These cells are somehow designed to prevent opening portals. I don't know how it works." She shrugged. "You are not a Nobody." X'ero stated the obvious. "The barrier should work different for you." X'ero decided to try and talk to the hero in Riku. "All you know is in danger. We need to get out."

Riku looked at her judgingly.

"All right, I believe you!" He lifted his hand and to everyone's relief a portal formed.

"Let's get out." Demyx was quickly through, but X'ero and Riku stood frozen on the spot looking at each other. The problem was that neither of them quite trusted the other and was willing to let the other stay behind in the Organization for just a second.

"On the same time!" Riku suggested. X'ero nodded and then both stepped through.

* * *

><p>For a guy who had just heard that the worlds could end in less than six day, Demyx was surprisingly unconcerned - or perhaps he just had a really short lived memory now that he was out of the immediate danger.<p>

"It's a festival!" He exclaimed. "Can we attend? Please?"

"Don't we have more pressing matters?" X'ero asked. They indeed seemed to have landed in the midst of some sort of carnival and festival, and X'ero had to admit that the huge number of upbeat and nosy people made her uncomfortable, but something had drawn her to this world, and it was not like she had a goal anymore.

"You can attend all you like, Demyx." She sighed. "It is not like I know what comes next."

Without the canon X'ero couldn't destroy Kingdom Hearts, harming Zexion was not an option which meant that she had to stop the flow of hearts to Kingdom Hearts. The only two ways to achieve that would be to destroy all the heartless – an impossible task, or she could kill the three persons who was left wielding the keyblade.

X'ero looked at the freezing Riku. The last option didn't sit well with her. Despite the mistrust between them, she actually liked Riku and even if she didn't X'ero doubted that she would be capable of killing all three keyblade wielders.

"I will have to demand an explanation from you again." Riku said while he tried to hide how he shook.

"Perhaps you should find a way to dry you clothes first?" X'ero suggested. "Demyx seems to want to attend the festival, and I need to gather my thoughts." She tried to smile to Riku, but she couldn't even pull of her disaster-smile. "You don't have to do what I say, of course. It is not like you are a prisoner or anything."

"I'll be there." Riku said. "...and X'ero, I'm sorry I attacked you. You are not responsible for the actions of the other you."

"I'm sorry that I poisoned you, I'm especially sorry that I used such a violent poison." Her true smile came easier this time.

Riku's sneeze turned into a cough and all three of them agreed that it was best to separate for a while.

Left on her own, X'ero found that the gathering her thoughts, was a hard thing in this situation. The people celebrating around her didn't help on the concentration - neither did the fact that she was extremely tired. She had already been tired before attacking Xemnas, and only Kingdom Hearts knew how long that fight had taken.

X'ero simply walked through the crowd, letting her feet rather than her mind decided where she went. Somehow she ended up in a crow before the tent of one of the performers.

"He is quite good." One of the women in the crowd said. "It is not every day you meet such a talented fortune reader."

X'ero didn't know why she thought that Saïx could be involved. Despite of his title Saïx had never actually shown an ability to predict anything, and with the infinite number of worlds that were the chance that she just stumbled into the same as him was minimal, but something had pulled her here, and it was not like she had anything better to do.

X'ero marched out of the crowd and pushed the others interested away. Before the tent opening she paused a second, what if she was wrong? No, wait... X'ero touched her cheek where Saïx's fingers would brush against her skin whenever he pushed the long side of her hair away. She certainly remembered how... close they had been the last time they had seen each other, she suddenly didn't know what she would say _if_ she was right. She took a deep breath and went into the tent.

* * *

><p>He wore different clothes and one of the carnival mask, but it was without a doubt Saïx.<p>

The two of them stared at each other for a long moment -neither of them willing to act surprised over finding the other in the same world. X'ero opened her mouth, but she was actually not quite sure what to say.

"So I've been found." Saïx finally said without getting up from the chair he was sitting in. It was first then X'ero noticed the star charts spread out on the table. "Actually I'm glad it is you. I figured that I needed to cut you out of this non-existent life of mine." Saïx slowly rose.

The death threat behind his words was quite clear. She hadn't expected Saïx to welcome her with open arms, but why was he this hostile? As far as she knew Saïx was the one that had pressed for intimacy the last time they saw each other.

"What have I done this time?" X'ero asked suddenly even more tired. Why was it that Saïx was displeased with everything she did? "And to you information: I am not here on behalf of the Organization. Demyx and I have left, and Xemnas is sort of dethroned."

"Oh..." In a second Saïx actually looked interested, but his cold facade quickly returned. "I have no further business with the Organization." He stated. "And I believe you have no further business with me, so if you won't mind..." Saïx indicated towards the stars charts. "I have a job to do."

X'ero guessed that being thrown out was a step up from being threaten, but it was not good enough. No, way she was allowing him to treat her this way. This time she hadn't done anything wrong. She was fairly certain of that.

"Fine." X'ero found a handful of money from her pouch and slammed them onto the table. She sat in the chair opposite Saïx with crossed legs and folded arms. "Then do your job, tell me my fortune."

Behind the carnival mask, X'ero could see Saïx's cold yellow eyes glare at her, the way only Saïx could glare, but she was unaffected by it.

"I'll need to know the date and the world you were born in." Saïx said. "Wait, I forgot. You were never born."

"Nihil died the third day of summer and I came into existence." X'ero said. "But there were no stars in my home world so I don't think that information is going to help you."

"Of course there were stars..." Saïx stopped his sentence before it finished. It was as if he wouldn't give her the benefit of an argument."Then I can only tell you what will happen if you stay in this world." He took out a pencil and began to draw circles around the astrological signs. "If you were a summer 'child' you would be influenced by the light from these worlds, which means..." Saïx paused. "That can't be."

"Oh, are you scared to tell me that your reading are bogus." X'ero knew she was pushing it, but if she could push Saïx beyond his limit, she could perhaps get him to spill what was eating him this time.

"... according to this reading you will be able to mend a rift in a relationship if you stay here, but the world will come to an end as well."

X'ero was shocked, the last part, at least, were eerily true. Did the first part mean that she would be able to restore... whatever it was she and Saïx had if she just tried long enough.

"It is not me." Saïx coldly said. "You will not be able to mend anything with me if you stay. Once my regard is lost, it is lost forever."

"I was not aware we had any kind of relationship in the first place." X'ero spat. "After all we are Nobodies and first met after becoming Nobodies. Is that not you own words."

"No..." Saïx said. "We had _something_. At least _I_ had some kind of relationship with _you_." X'ero was so shocked by Saïx's admission that she didn't have a comeback. "But now I want you to forever disappear from my existence. I never want to see you again."

"Why?" She had to whisper to avoid the cracking of her voice to be heard. She knew Saïx was not nice, but... She really couldn't see what she had done.

"Why should I bother to tell you? Just disappear." The last bit was spoken like an order. X'ero just couldn't take it anymore. She had no strength to take up yet another discussion with Saïx. She stood up to grant Saïx his wish, but a dark whisper in her mind stopped her. If this was the end, she wouldn't let Saïx win. He would feel some kind of pain even if it was the last thing she did.

Her evil smile spread as she asked her final question.

"Remember the last time we saw each other?"

"...That has nothing to do with this." Saïx answered.

"I just wanted to give you Zexion's thanks for the help."

"_What?"_ Saïx tore his mask of and was suddenly standing before her. He grabbed X'ero's wrists. "What?" He asked once more forcing himself to be calm. She certainly had his attention now.

"Thanks for all the hard work with me, I mean. You really did a great job of tearing down my barriers. That must really had been hard work – too bad it was Zexion that reaped the benefit."

Saïx intertwined their fingers. It was by no means a loving gesture but the method for him to get completely control over X'ero's hands and prevent her from summoning her gloves.

X'ero winced, but continued driven by an unusual lack of self-preservation.

"You want to who I thought was best?" The grip around her fingers intensified so much that X'ero was afraid that her fragile bones would break."I guess you already know the answer." She said. "But then again... Between a mindless brute and an intelligent friend - It is not hard to guess who the better man is, who would leave me more..." X'ero searched in her head for the word she knew Larxene had used on some occasion. "...satisfied."

Saïx growled and before X'ero knew it they were on the floor: She on the back and Saïx on top of her. He had used her shock after the impact with the ground to free one of his hands by moving both of her hands over her head and grabbing them in one large hand. So pinned down, X'ero was something close to afraid. Saïx skin was almost glowing with a faint light as if the moon shone from inside him and his eye were looking wild and out of control. X'ero realized that she had perhaps pushed him too far.

With one quick downward rip Saïx destroyed the zipper in X'ero's coat. "Without your magic you're nothing, but a fragile girl." Saïx growled. "And I _am_ brutal. Are you aware how easy it would be for me to do _anything_ I wanted to you right now?" X'ero was painfully aware of that. Saïx leant down even closer so his head was just beside X'ero's, and he whispered in her ear. "It would be so easy for me to do anything I wanted with you, and kill you afterwards." Saïx pulled away again and glared coldly at X'ero. "But you're not worth it - You good for nothing liar."

"I still have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." X'ero hissed.

"You _guaranteed_ it." Saïx growled. "You guaranteed that you were just an ordinary Nobody."

"But I _am..._"

"Silence, X'ero! Or should I say tenth Echo Radiance Organism."

X'ero felt her face become completely blank.

"That _was_ a little long to present myself with every time." X'ero said to no one in particular. "X-ERO was much easier. I guess it just became X'ero over time." Her eyes suddenly shone up. "Darkfire!"

The bluish hellfire suddenly encircled X'ero's hand, and Saïx had no choice but to let her go off her with a roar. Even though her own hands hurt from burn marks, X'ero summoned her gloves and used a mixture of spell she rarely used.

"Dark-thuroga!" The mixture of the dark-thunder and aeroga spell formed into an electrical loaded wind missile that Saïx hadn't any means to dodge at their close proximity. He was hit in the chest with such a force that he was pushed off her and into the table.

Prepared as she was, X'ero was up on her feet first and placed a well aimed kicked on his chest where the spell had connected. Saïx flinched more from the contact between her food and the wound, than he did from the force of the kick. Without moving her foot X'ero pointed her left middle and index finger towards Saïx's scar.

"Move one muscle and I'll fire a mixture of a dark-fire and dark-thunder straight at your head!" X'ero hissed. "As close as we are, the spell _will_ connect, and it _will_ erase you."

"Since when had you enchanted more than the fire spell with darkness?" Saïx asked.

"Since your battle with Axel," X'ero answered.

"Does Zexion know?" Saïx asked . "That you are nothing more than a construct? Worth even less than a Nobody?" He looked coldly at her. "The thought that I have... _touched_ you, sickens me."

"You have it wrong!" X'ero said. "It is not me who is worthless. It is you! Axel did the right thing after all. You are simply not worth the effort. It is pointless to try and stay civil with a stray _animal_, like you!"

Her words had some kind of effect on him, she could see it. Satisfied that she had dealt at least some kind of blow to the berserker's pride, she teleport out before Saïx found away to reverse the situation. Besides she needed to get out before she did something ridicules like starting to cry.

* * *

><p>Left on his own, Saïx slowly stood up almost as in a trance. X'ero, of all people, had called him an animal and meant it too. Suddenly, without knowing why, Saïx roared and slammed him damaged fist into the table to deplete all the wrathful energy building up in him with one blow.<p>

Saïx didn't understand what was wrong with him. Why his rage energy seemed to be building without a moon, but now he thought it over it had been so the last couple of months. There had even been the time where he had been close to throwing Xigbar out of the window so Saïx couldn't even blame it all on X'ero.

Drained from his wrathful energy, Saïx's calm stone-facade returned betraying none of the inner turmoil as he picked the pieces of the broken table up.

He had gotten rid of X'ero, no that... _thing_, X'ero was. Saïx took the green feather out. He should crush it, but he didn't want to. It was as if he had lost an important battle, even though this was what he had wanted: All ties cut and never to meet X'ero again. He had gotten the desired end result, but still he was dissatisfied with the way things had turned out.

* * *

><p>X'ero was hiding under a bridge to get away from the crowd of celebrating people. She <em>could<em> properly have salvaged... whatever it was she and Saïx had had. She still could if she just stood up, found Saix and told him the whole story behind her name – and apologized for calling him an animal.

The problem was that she didn't want to. In her mind memories of bitterness were stewing in a hatefull mix with darkness. There were so few days until Zexion's plan came to fruition and she could not waste her time trying to smooth things over with Saïx. If she ever saw Saïx again he would pay, he would pay so much.

Zexion was all that mattered, and if she had to kill every person in every world just to prevent Zexion from killing anyone, she would do it.

Sora, Riku and the mouse king, she needed to kill those three first. That would stop the flow of hearts to Kingdom Hearts. It didn't matter if she herself died in the attempt. Zexion would never forgive her if she thwarted his world expanding experiment. There were nothing left for her in the worlds.

Her only purpose left for existing was to save Zexion from himself. It didn't matter what she had to sacrifice to get there.

So why? Why couldn't she stop crying?

* * *

><p>Ns: Uh oh... X'ero's is slipping into the self-destructive mode of Nihil. (Glares at Saïx) This is your fault, you know.<p>

Saïx: No it is not. _She's_ the one to blame.

Ns: You and X'ero really need to learn to communicate without violence.

Saïx: No need. I never want to see her again.

X'ero: Ditto here.

Ns: I guess Zexion is a little to blame as well. Anyway the next chapter is a week from now.


	40. Chapter 40: Insanity

NS: This is the last two chapters before I am up to the place in the story where I already was. Therefor only two today,

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 40: Insanity <strong>

Echo Radiance Organism (I)

This is my report of my so far most ambitious project; the creation of a manufactured keyblade. In case something goes wrong, however, I'll write down the notes on the experiment and hand them to my partner – that is if she doesn't get herself killed first.

A keyblade is a magnificent weapon with the unfortunate ability to choose its owner – Unfortunate because nobody since the banishment of our ancestors has been able to wield the weapon, with the exception of the one who bears the Masters' title. It is hard to imagine that there only exist one with the right kind of heart to wield the weapon, but the search for another would take too long and further there is no guarantee that the person in question would follow my lead. Therefore the most logical conclusion is to create not just the weapon, but the wielder of the weapon as well.

It pains me to admit, but I will not be able to create such a creature myself – at least not in the near future, my ally, however, has developed the ability to increase the prowess of her magical heart by sacrificing her own light. That would normally be an unadvisable act, if it wasn't for the fact that the light doesn't leave her completely. A faint echo remains with her in the physical manifestation of green birds. I asked her why they took that form and she looked at me with surprise, and said that she liked the idea of being able to soar freely through the sky as much as she liked the colour green. Weird taste aside, if she can make one form what's not to say that she can make another?

With the sum of our shared knowledge, I am going to create an organism of her birds – and organism with a heart radiant enough to be worthy of a keyblade.

* * *

><p>Saïx had read the piece of paper through so many times that he could recite in his sleep. He guessed there had been ten of them at one time, but the eight was missing. It was properly the one X'ero had torn up, so long ago. With a chuckle Saïx remembered Xemnas expression' when X'ero had snatched the paper away before he could examine it. Now Saïx could understand why. It was obviously written in Xemnas's handwriting, so X'ero couldn't let the Superior see it.<p>

Saïx shook his head. What was he doing? Revisiting old memories? For that matter why was he rereading the damn report _again?_ It was the twentieth time he had read the report through and he doubted the words on the paper would change, just because he wanted it. Saïx took the last paper out, then one marked 'X'. It was the wording of this one, he truly wished to change:

* * *

><p>Echo Radiance Organism (X)<p>

We were so close and yet we failed. Nine times have we tried and nine times did we fail, but each time the construct we made was a little closer to a living organism, and so I was convinced that the tenth time would be the time where we succeeded.

Unfortunately the keyblade knights came first. I do not know _how_ they entered our realm, although the _why_ was obvious. The master ordered Nihil to deal with them first. I warned her, I told her to wait. To help me finish first, but she didn't listen. She never listened, and now she is no more.

I don't know what happened. Suddenly there was an explosion in my laboratory. When I arrived the air was thick with black feathers, not a single green one was among them anymore. At the middle of the floor I found it: A female body. It was not that of my late friend even if there was a likeness in body and facial structure. Nihil does not have green hair, nor is her eyes orange. Beside her lay an unfinished keyblade, its form not yet stabilized.

At least this one seems to be living, it breathes and took just an hour ago its first steps. In time I have faith it will even be able to speak. It is not perfect, it is not enough, something vital inside it is missing. I can sense it, but…

Without my partner there is no hope of creating a new organism that is why that the tenth of tries to create an Echo Radiance Organism is the last.

For now I have named it:

X-E-R-O

* * *

><p>There it was again, no matter how many times Saïx read it. It did not change the fact that X'ero was the artificial life form mentioned in the report. After all there existed only a limited number of green haired girls with orange eyes.<p>

A commotion outside his tent was a welcome disturbance, and Saïx crawled out. Just to see Esmeralda talking to the groups of gypsies, explaining how she had escaped from the church. It seemed that the gypsies was getting into trouble with the authorities of this world, and Saïx judged that it was time for him to leave, but just as he was about to crawl back into his tent he heard a familiar voice shout.

"I'm not a spy!" A confused Demyx was dragged violently into the Court of Miracles by the gypsies who had been standing guard. "I'm telling you, I'm here to see Saïx." Unfortunately Demyx spotted Saïx before he could disappear. "There! Look, he's right there." All of the gypsies were now looking at Saïx who realized that he no longer could deny any knowledge of the water-user.

"Unfortunately, I _do_ know the idiot."

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later a disgusted Saïx was watching Demyx wolf food down in a remote place of the camp.<p>

"This is so good." Demyx exclaimed. "I've hadn't eaten anything for almost a day." He froze with the baguette halfway to his mouth when he noticed the glare from the other man. "I have totally done nothing wrong."

"Obviously you have or you wouldn't be here." Saïx stated. "But your uselessness is no longer my problem. What I want to know is how you found this place."

"I… uh… stumbled on it by accident."

"You walked in to a graveyard, lifted a heavy lid off a stone casket and walked through the abandoned catacombs by _accident_?"

"Uh… Yes?" Demyx ducked his head a little when Saïx glare intensified. "Okay… the truth is I followed you."

"When?"

"I followed X'ero to your tent, and then I followed you."

"And why did you follow X'ero in the first place?"

Demyx didn't answer at first but stared at his bread instead as if it could get him away from the questioning, when he finally felt that he couldn't prolong the pause anymore he only reluctantly opened his mouth.

"It's because X'ero is dangerous." Demyx didn't say anymore instead he held the bread up in front of his face as a protective shield.

"Demyx, you are taking ridicules to a whole new level." Saïx commented dryly.

"So you are not mad?" Demyx lowered the bread again. "I was sure you would kill me for talking bad about the girl you like."

"She is a lying bitch." Saïx was mildly irritated by statement of the other. "Even if I had a heart, I would never like a girl like that."

"Why are you so mean?" Demyx asked. "When you love her."

Saïx could feel the muscles around his eye twitch. Why was everyone so insistent on his 'attachment' to X'ero these days? First Axel then Demyx, it was beginning to be a trend Saïx highly disliked.

"You'll never repeat that." Saïx ordered. "And you _might_ still exist tomorrow."

"B... but..." Confused as he was Demyx seemed strangely unwilling to let it go.

"X'ero was just the person on my team. That is all!"

"Not true. You always look impatiently at the door when she is late for missions."

"I expect punctuality in those that serve under me."

"Larxene agrees with me."

"That proves nothing! Why have you even discussed this with Larxene?"

"Ah ha!" This time the half eaten baguette was pointed triumphal at Saïx as Demyx got a new idea. "You always look at X'ero with soft eyes."

Saïx felt his teeth grind. How had he been roped into this ridicules conversation? His claymore was suddenly hovering very few inches away from Demyx's face.

"If you say one more word about X'ero, I'll kill you. Why are you so oddly intent to... hook us up, anyway?"

"Because if you get laid you'll be much nicer which mean it would be much easier to half-ass the missions." Demyx blinked as he realized that he had said that out loud. He grinned foolishly. "Whoops, you weren't supposed to hear that."

Demyx had just confirmed what Saïx always had suspected: When it came to methods of avoiding work, Demyx was a lot more wicked than they gave him credit for. He had to violently fight down his first instinct which was giving Demyx a lecture about working morale. Saïx was no longer the second in command, so it was not his business. The attitude of the musician still irritated him, though.

"You do realize that I no longer hand the missions out?"

"Oh... I haven't thought about that."

Saïx gave up. Was Demyx even aware of his own defection from the Organisation? What it meant? Saix drew his weapon back. There was no point in gaining a headache trying to get anything sensible out of Demyx.

"Ow! You did that on purpose." Demyx was looking at Saïx with accusing eyes, holding both his hand over his right cheek. Saïx realized that the sharp pikes at the tip of his sword must have grazed Demyx after all.

"Don't whine. It is just a scratch." Saïx froze when Demyx grudgingly moved his hands. The wound was fresh and swallow, but it was not the shape of the wound, but the dark liquid that was dripping from it that demanded Saïx's attention.

"What is that?" He asked although he already knew it.

"Blood – duh."

"We do not bleed." Saïx stated. "We have nothingness in our veins." As they first shock has vanished, Saïx realized that the liquid was black not red. It looked like someone had taken all the black particles in body of the water user and compressed them into a liquid form, but no matter what it looked like it was still some kind of blood. "Demyx, how do you do that?"

"You cut me."

Saïx didn't realize himself how his face distorted as he rose from his sitting place. Demyx stumbled backwards.

"It is not my fault, don't kill me!" He kept going backwards, out of the secluded area they had been in. "I didn't do anything. I never do anything at all. Don't kill me! Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"

"You will tell me what you have done and you how did it."

"I don't know the answer to such difficult questions. Please, don't kill me!"

Saïx stopped dead in his tracks. Suddenly he was aware of everything. Somehow they had ended in the middle of the camp and the scene had attracted a great deal of attention.

The gypsies were now looking at Saïx with wary attitudes, Demyx was blabbering incoherent excuses and was subconsciously moving his hand the way one would move it to try and calm an upset animal.

In that exact moment Saïx was struck by a rather unpleasant epiphany:

He _needed_ X'ero!

Out of the blue as it was, the revelation was, to put it mildly, unwelcome, but there was no point in denying it to himself. Not now he had realized it. Saïx knew that everyone were either wary of him or thought that he was some kind of underdog they could control. He knew that he was disliked.

In fact it was very simple. X'ero was the only one left who treated him like an equal, and Saïx... even Saïx needed that.

Saïx grabbed the hood of Demyx's coat and dragged him through the portal. Not given a damn about the rule of discretion.

"Demyx!" He said once they were in one of the dark corridors. "You are going to tell me the whole story, and you are going to do it calmly and coherently. Am I clear?"

Demyx could only nod.

* * *

><p>"Kingdom Hearts is to be used as a weapon."Riku looked worried. "I can't say that I'm surprised. Xemnas always seemed like the type who wants to take over the world."<p>

"This is not exactly about world domination." X'ero said, and purposely left out that Xemnas wasn't the master mind behind it either. "It is more like – kill 'everything alive'- kind of plan..."

"And that is better?" Riku looked at some passing heartless. "How do we stop this?"

"I don't know, but we can't re-enter the Organization. Where are we, anyway?" X'ero looked around. They were in some kind of town that looked oddly familiar to her.

"Radiant Garden." Riku said. "I wanted to check up on Naminé. She was the one who told me about Kairi." Riku quickly looked away at the mention of his friend's name, but X'ero saw the mix of hurt and anger in his face. "Don't mind me." Riku said. "I doubt you would understand truly how it feels."

"I don't!" X'ero admitted. "But lately I'm coming close."

Riku looked at her with more interest.

"I don't want to be noisy, but has something changed within you?" He asked. "The darkness seems more present in you."

"I have lost the barrier in my mind." X'ero explained. Truly she did not wish to discuss this.

"I'm not worrying about it being more present, but it seems more and more out of control every second that passes. It was bad when you helped me out of the pit, and for some reason it escalated even more during the time we split up. Are you sure nothing has... upset you?"

"You have a very keen sense of darkness." X'ero noted. "But we are on a time schedule. If you want to take the time to check up on Naminé, you don't have time to chat with me."

It didn't take Riku long to find Naminé because the blonde girl was still in the headquarters of the Restoration Committee. She seemed relieved to find Riku unharmed, but her joy quickly faded when Riku informed her and Sora's other friends of the grave situation. The brown haired man with the scar on his head placed two fingers on his forehead and shook his head.

"Are you sure we can trust her?" He asked Riku with a nod towards X'ero.

Riku looked at X'ero.

"X'ero is a darkness user like me." The others looked like they didn't know if it was a vote of confidence or the opposite.

"We need to get Sora." X'ero said. "And the mouse king."

"Micky?" Riku asked. "He is going to be hard to track down. He always is."

"I'm an accomplished wizard." The magician named Merlin said. "I can contact them, but I cannot force them to come here."

"They will come." X'ero said. "The heroes always arrive to save the day." She rose up. "If you don't mind, I'll wait at the bastion. That place is more suited for me, I think."

"X'ero, you are stepping way too close to the darkness." Riku warned.

"That is none of you concern." X'ero made to leave, but Naminé stopped her by placing a hand on her arm.

"You can tell us what is worrying you." The small girl said. "You are safe here."

X'ero grabbed Naminés wrist. Her smile appeared eerier and more ominous than ever.

"I'm in no way connected to Sora or his heart." The green haired witch stated. "Your rather specialized magic does not work on me. You don't know anything about what's going on inside my mind. So stop trying to act nice to me."

"I had no ulterior motives." Naminé looked nervous and with good reason. X'ero's smile broadened and before anyone could do anything, she dragged the smaller witch towards her and twitched Naminés arm behind her back. With a gloved hand on the blonde's head she glared at Riku and the Restoration Committee who all had frozen, worried for the safety of their friend, but also recognizing a hostage situation when they saw one.

"As I was saying: I'll wait in the bastion. And Riku: Don't bother showing up without the two other keybladers." X'ero teleported out with Naminé.

"You heard the girl." Riku said to Merlin after a few seconds of silence. "Contact Sora and his Majesty, now!"

* * *

><p>After having heard Demyx's tale, Saïx arrived in Radiant Garden with an unwilling Demyx in tow. Saïx was no Zexion when it came to predict the movement of others, but he hoped that he knew X'ero well and he was right in guessing that she would properly aim for the keyblade wielders – at least that was what Saïx would do if he wanted to stop the flow of hearts to Kingdom Hearts. How X'ero planned to do it. Saïx didn't know, but he would just have to track down the keyblade master first in order to track down X'ero, and he was sure Naminé could do that. (The hard thing would be to convince her), but as they arrived in the radiant city luck seemed to finally be on Saïx's side. After all one of the first person he spotted was an angry looking Riku talking to what looked like a ninja girl.<p>

"No!" Riku said. "You can't chase after her. It would put Naminé at danger."

"Riku!" Saïx interrupted the discussion: "Where is X'ero?"

"You..." Riku wasn't exactly happy to see him. "I can't tell you." Riku noticed Demyx. "X'ero said that you were properly just avoiding doing anything hard, but now it seems you contacted the Organization."

Demyx shook his head.

"Does this looks like the Organization's clothes?" Saïx asked pointing towards his current costume before Demyx could say anything stupid. "I'm not here on behalf of the Organization... I'm here because..." Saïx might had realized that he didn't wanted to lose X'ero, but that didn't mean he was willing to admit it to an enemy - or anyone else for that matter. "X'ero is... I have something I need to say to her, and she was last seen with you. Where _is _she?"

"She's taken Naminé hostage." Riku finally said. "I can't tell you where that would put Naminé at danger. X'ero told me to come with Sora and King Mickey." Riku's fist clenched. "I thought that X'ero was a decent person beneath all that darkness, but it seems like the person I met at the coliseum never did exits."

"X'ero is not a person." Saïx coldly said. "And if you thought that you deserve any pain she might inflict on you. That said, I thought you of all persons should understand her motivation."

"Her motivation?"

"X'ero has issues, but she is just doing what she thinks she is supposed to do."

"You sound like an expert on her." Riku crossed his arms. "Why should I trust your words?"

"I hope I _am _an expert." Saïx stated. "She was on my team and thus my responsibility. Of course I know her."

"In that case: The 'issues' you talked about. They have something to do with control of the darkness – or rather lack thereof."

"That was a good guess."

"It is not a guess – Unfortunately. I'm tuned to darkness, and could sense something was wrong." Riku shook his head and looked at Saïx."Does she listen to you?"

"Only when she wants to."

"She's in the Hollow Bastion with Naminé. You are properly the wrong person to ask this, but try and talk her down, preferably before Sora arrives. I cannot say why, but I feel that Sora and X'ero shouldn't meet."

Saïx didn't like receiving orders from Riku, but if anyone knew the darkness it was the warrior before him. Saïx had planned to talk to X'ero in any case, to actually listen to what she had tried to tell him this time. As he arrived at the castle - still teeming with heartless, Saïx, however, had second thoughts.

Talk? He was no good at that.

* * *

><p>Finding X'ero was easy, Saïx simply followed the mass of heartless which seemed to concentrate in one area. He arrived in the audience chamber and found, not X'ero but Naminé on the throne, bound by some kind of magic that suspiciously reminded him of the sacrifice ritual X'ero had tried to trap Saïx in, but there was no pentagram. Instead the room was filled with a dark magical energy.<p>

He heard step behind him.

"Why are you here?" X'ero asked. She looked at him expressionless. "Did you not make it clear that you didn't want to see me again?"

"X'ero, what are you planning?"

"To kill the three keyblade wielders."

"You are not power full enough." Saïx claimed. "I could not defeat one, and you are not stronger than me."

"I have control over the darkness, and I have a hostage." She smirked. "You didn't think I plan to fight fair, did you?"

"Can you control the darkness now?"

"No." The statement was said in a cold, uncaring tone as if X'ero didn't give a damn about the consequences.

"Then why are you doing this?" Saïx asked. The X'ero he knew would put her own survival first. Why was she so indifferent about it now?

"Why are you asking? You made it very clear last time just how little you think of me." Suddenly without warning her impassive face changed as it became distorted with something that looked like hate. "_**Get out of my way**_**!**" She screamed.

"I wanted to talk about it." Saïx tried to hide that he was taken aback. "I..."

Then without warning X'ero began to laugh. For a second, had it not been for the green hair, Saïx would have thought it was Nihil standing before him.

"Talk?" She giggled. "You want to _talk?_ _You? _and _talk?_ That is so funny – and way too late." X'ero was suddenly serious again. "I tried to tell you the truth, and you didn't want to listen. Now I don't have time for you. I have to prevent Zexion from falling into darkness. I _have _to!"

"And be consumed by it yourself?" Saïx looked around in the room until his eyes fell on Naminé trapped by the darkness. "Because that will be the prize, won't it?"

X'ero sneered:

"I got out of your existence just like you wanted," X'ero lifted her hands and summoned her gloves. "Get out of mine!"

"No!" Saïx said and summoned his weapon too - although he didn't quite know what to do with it, killing X'ero seemed to be counterproductive to his goal.

"Don't you get it?" X'ero visibly forced herself to be calm in a few more seconds, but Saïx could literally see her grip on her sanity loosen by the way her body was shaking with the suppressed aggressiveness. "As a Nobody I have never hold a grudge against anything, save my own heart, but there is too much of Nihil's darkness in me now, and I cannot forgive you for thinking of me as anything other than a woman. Not you of all people. I cannot forgive you for thinking of me as a thing. I just can't." X'ero looked Saïx directly in the eyes – her own visible eye large and pleading. "Can't you see that you are dragging me down? Making me lose control too early? Don't make me fight you, Saïx. Just... just go before it is too late. It will be the last favour I ask of you."

Saïx was tempted to do as she asked, but the truth was that would be no point in fleeing. What should he do then? As it was now the Organization didn't even have the resources to think of him as a threat. There wasn't even a point in running. Aimlessly zapping from world to world, forgotten by everyone – that was his fate if he left now. He had already decided with himself that he needed X'ero. He would not go back on that now.

"I won't let you go." He simply said.

X'ero started laughing again. The same hysterical laughter that Saïx had once heard in a dream, as far as he remembered that dream had ended with both of them drowned in the darkness.

Saïx looked around and saw how black feathers began to materialize. His grip around the weapon intensified.

"A fight it is, then." X'ero continued to laugh. "I don't know why I am finding this so humorous." She vanished amongst her feathers.

"I won't lose!" Saïx said out in the room, convinced that X'ero was within hear shot.

The truth was, Saïx couldn't see how he was going to win either.

* * *

><p>Ns: Yes, X'ero is losing it. Truth to be told I had originally planned to write the fight in this chapter also, but that would be too long for me to handle.<p>

Saïx: Ns, calm her down again. You have ulitmately resonsiblity here.

Ns: Nope, you got yourself into this. Get yourself out.

Zexion: I have to agree with Saïx. There will be no point in X'ero losing her sanity, or I'll use Kingdom Hearts on you once it is finish. By the way, shouldn't you tell people what I am doing?

Ns: I will next week. when did you two get so demanding. The next chapter will be up, one week from sunday.


	41. Chapter 41:Reunion

Ns: Right, the last chapters in the re-upload. Be sure to read my final notes this time again.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts and any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 41: Reunion<strong>

If Saïx believed in anything it was that a strong offense was the best defense. He had never fought a battle completely defensibly before. Yet it was the case now. Saïx hastily blocked a fire ball and dodged the burning tornado that came his way three seconds later.

X'ero was more dangerous than usual, and on top of that she was randomly teleporting around, but it was neither of these facts that made it hard for Saïx to get a footing in the battle. X'ero still had to vocally active her spells which meant that Saïx had at least some idea where she was.

Saïx could not attack X'ero because he didn't wish to harm her. As long as there was a flicker of the X'ero he knew in the person attacking him Saïx would not harm her which was a completely new situation for him. True to be told, Saïx had no idea how to handle this.

Saïx dodged another one of her thunder beams. It passed by him and was absorbed into one of the dark feathers floating aimlessly in the air.

Where did they come from anyway? He was pretty sure that X'ero was not in her limit break. The sheer number of spells she was firing at him proved that. So where did she get those feathers from? Another thing that was bothering him was the magical energy. X'ero had told him that the feathers were meant to absorb and cancel the magic, but it was as if they were only doing the absorbing part, in fact some of the feathers seemed to be 'overloading' with magical energy, and dematerialized as they felt to the floor.

By the time he had blocked the ten darkfire, an idea had formed. First he would deal with Naminé. Slowly so he could keep his watch out for spells, Saïx approached the throne. Knowing that he didn't have the time to figure out the spell that bound Naminé, Saïx took the quickest and most effective solution he could think of and thrashed the lower part of the throne by putting all his force behind one single swing. He was hit in the same second by X'ero's burning tornado. He had really anticipated the attack, and any pain was easily overcome by the satisfaction, Naminé's shriek gave him as the foundation of her cage crumbled.

Since there was no longer anything for the darkness to bind her to, Naminé crawled out of the rubble relatively unharmed. However, X'ero had no intention of letting the other girl stay that in that state. A quit invocation of yet another dark-firoga sounded from somewhere amongst the feathers and the burning tornado where aiming straight for Naminé. Knowing that Naminé was absolutely not a combat-oriented Nobody and having dropped his sword when the previous spell hit him, Saïx saw no other option than to shield the smaller Nobody with his own body. Getting hit twice in a few minutes, was... unpleasant at least.

The blonde girl looked up at him with surprise.

"Thank you." She politely said. "But why...?"

"I'm doing this for my _own_ sake." Saïx explained as he took a potion to recover. "I need you to escape from here. Find Riku, convince him that you are unharmed and tell him to stay away. I don't want any interference."

Naminé's blue eyes dropped to the floor.

"I tried that as soon as the throne broke." She mumbled. "But those feathers are redirecting the darkness. We can't open any portals."

Saïx tried - just to be sure, and found that Naminé was right. They couldn't leave the room through any other means than the door. X'ero had materialized right next to it and was leaning against the wall, watching the two of them. Saïx was not about to be fooled by her seemingly calmness. The predatory look in her orange eye was enough to prove that she hasn't regained her sanity.

"X'ero, let Naminé go!"

"That would destroy the purpose of abducting her in the first place." Her tone was cold, but it was dry and very X'ero-like.

"You need her as a hostage in order lure Sora and his friends into a trap." Saïx stated. "But I won't allow it." Saïx grabbed the blond by her hair and dragged him in front of him, ignoring her pained protest. "I'll kill her if you don't let her go, X'ero! Then you won't have a hostage."

"Killing her would accomplish nothing for you." X'ero said as she crossed her arms. "Riku and Sora would still come."

"But you would not have the same hold over them without a hostage." Saïx stated. "If I can't have it my way, you won't have it your way either."

X'ero said nothing. Inside of her were two different forces struggling for domination.

Her calm, intelligent side which did not want to kill someone without a good reason because it complicated things further, told her that she needed to stay focused to kill the keybladers.

Her other side, tainted with the painful memories of Nihil, wanted nothing more than to make these two pay for being in her way.

X'ero lifted her hand and a portal formed before Saïx and Naminé.

"Go!"Saïx pushed Naminé through before she had time to protest. Then he looked at X'ero once more. She was still watching with that glowing eye which seemed to want to devour him."X'ero..."

X'ero lifted her hand to signal him to stop.

"There is a very little of X'ero left in me. You should stop addressing me with that name." She stated and in a fluid movement removed herself from her comfortable position at the wall. "And all there is left is concentrated on the sole purpose of stopping the flow of hearts to Kingdom Hearts." X'ero paused. "You do not match up, however. Why are _you_ fighting so weirdly?"

It somehow pleased Saïx that could X'ero see that he was acting out of character.

"I came to talk with you. I do not want to fight – as I have repeated many times."

X'ero snorted:

"And I have repeated that I do not wish to talk." She still smiled. "Do you have any idea how power feels? How satisfying it is to watch your enemies crumble as they suffer for your hands? How addictive it is to only laugh as all who has belittled you – as those who thought that you were worth less than them, is painfully erased from existence and you know that you will be the last one standing?" She noticed the disproving looks Saïx was sending her. "I _know_ it is just memories of feelings, but those are all the memories I have. Why should I not use them?"

Their conversations were going in circles, with the only result that X'ero was becoming a bit more deranged with each word uttered.

"How exactly can giving into those memories help you?" Saïx asked. "If you lose your sanity how will you manage to reach Zexion?" He tried to speak to the rational part of her.

"...All these feathers are darkness from this castle which I have manipulated into solid form - there is a lot of darkness here, after all, and sacrifices rituals can easily be substituted with darkness."

"You planned to _sacrifice_ the keyblade wielders?"

X'ero nodded.

"Killing them would not be enough, I have to cast a magic that prevent new any new keyblade wielders from being born - forever"

"You can do that?"

"With all my energy, a lot of external darkness and the hearts of the current wielders it would be possible – in theory... I think. I am a good mage."

"You could _really_ do that?" Saïx asked again.

"If they were distracted long enough, and kept fighting to, say, save a hostage, they would not notice the ritual. Had you killed Naminé, I would have no idea how Sora would have reacted, and emotions is dangerous when dealing with the darkness." She paused. "I may be going into insanity, Saïx. But that was a part of the equation. I am not stupid."

X'ero seemed much more... X'ero now. The creepy smile and laughter was gone, and instead was a girl with an almost thought through plan. If Saïx could just keep X'ero on this subject, perhaps she would revert completely back.

"That plan is not going to work anymore, so perhaps you should rethink and find a way that doesn't involve going crazy and suicidal."

"Unfortunately the darkness in this castle is bound to the place and cannot be moved even by me, and I don't have a heart so I can't increase my darkness that way either. I would need another source. It is much weaker, but it is easily extract-able and moveable too." She was still looking at him with that almost hungry look and Saïx suddenly understood the meaning behind it.

"You are planning to do that ritual you attempted on the beach." A question wasn't needed as they both knew it to be the truth. Saïx eyes darted over the room as he checked it for any hidden pentagram, but as far as he could see there was no one in sight. Suddenly Saïx found himself wishing that he had taken the time to ask Riku how long X'ero had had to prepare.

X'ero noticed what he was doing and properly figured out what he was looking after:

"You are such an idiot." She stated.

Saïx flinched at the arrogant tone of her and felt how his wrathful energy slightly rose inside him. He looked at X'ero and her expression said it all. First at the moment it thoroughly hit Saïx exactly what it was X'ero had said. Those feathers were not from her limit break, they were not meant to absorb magical energy, but dark powers... which meant if he went berserk... she didn't needed a pentagram.

"You seemed to have figured it out." X'ero said as she summoned her gloves once more. "But what _will_ you do about it? You have to fight back, you know." To underline her point X'ero aimed one of her burning tornados at him. Saïx automatically summoned his weapon and blocked the attacked. "You can't keep blocking." X'ero stated. "Sooner or later you are going to be tired. You don't _need_ the moon to go berserk, all the darkness in this room will be more than enough. You allow any memory of anger to rule you and it should be more than enough to snap. Just go with it. Give in to the darkness. It will strengthen you."

"...And kill me." Saïx added. "I'm not that stupid, and you are not a very good temptress."

"But perhaps you can manage to get a hit in first. You might even be able to kill me." X'ero was circling around him, just outside reach of his weapon – _if_ he went berserk, he would be able to reach her. She wasn't the fastest warrior after all. Irritated Saïx dismissed his weapon. There was no point in continuing this charade. As in case with most arguments they were really just going in circles around each other repeating the same line over and over again.

"I _will_ kill you." X'ero almost stamped in the ground out of frustration with Saïx when his weapon disappeared. She did not understand his unwillingness to co-operate. "Do not take me for the same X'ero as the one on the beach. I can remember nothing, but hatred when I look at you. It will be a delight to kill you."

Saïx sighed:

"Then just do it!" He said with a shrug.

For a second X'ero actually paused - a flicker of doubt crossed her features then she clasped her hands together.

"Dark-firoga!"

Saïx could easily have dodged the spell, but he allowed it to hit him with full force. The pain almost made him stagger backwards a little, but he made neither sound nor further movement.

Saïx clearly heard X'ero activate another spell, this time it was the wind-thunder-spell thing she had hit him in the chest last time they fought. The aim was his head, and Saïx felt like X'ero had struck him with a wedge-hammer. He staggered backwards as his sight temporally blurred. Somehow he managed to find one of the supporting pillars of the room, and he leant against it for support, through the haze he heard that X'ero was invoking another spell. Without thinking his hand shot up.

"Wait!" He somehow managed to get the word out in spite of the pain. For a second he feared that X'ero was so far gone that she wouldn't let up on her attack, but as the pain subsided enough for his head to clear a little, he could see X'ero watching him carefully. Of course it was her intent to make him fight back, killing him just wouldn't do.

Saïx slumped down on the floor with his back against the pillar. A part of him had hoped that X'ero would not go through with - it seemed he had been wrong, and what was worse was that all his instincts were raging in him because of the materialized darkness, telling him to stand up and fight – beat X'ero into submission. Rip her up. Unable to get rid of the wrathful energy Saïx turned it inwards and focused on the fact that he was failing his self-chosen task.

Seeing that he didn't move to fight back X'ero prepared another attack.

"Wait, X'ero..." Saïx stuck his hand inside one of his pockets. "I want to return something before you... finish it."

"Why are you not fighting back?" X'ero asked, completely ignoring what he said. Likewise, Saïx ignored X'ero's question.

"It will disappear with me if it is on my body, and I think you should have it back."

"I asked you a..." X'ero abruptly stopped her ignoring him, when her eyes caught the green feather in his hands. "_Why_ do you have one of Nihil's..."

"It is yours!" Saïx found it wisest to stop X'ero before she assumed another thing. "I took it from you before I left."

"Whatever it are you think you are playing, you are failing at it. Why should you take such a thing – even if I had it?"

"I'm not really the type to play." Saix coldly bit out through his teeth - his rage was now running through his entire body, and Saïx feared that he was actually shaking in an attempt not to let the show. She would not win this, and he would not let almost pulsating energy take him over, not when he needed a clear head. "To answer your comment: I am not sure - except it was warm and a unique part of you... " Saïx made sure to lock his eyes with X'ero. "I couldn't take _you_ with me after all."

Her hands opened and closed as if X'ero had an uncontrollable urge to strangle him.

"Liar!" X'ero shouted. "You, Saïx, would never get attached to anything, and you have made your opinion of me perfectly clear. You are no different than the people of my world who saw Nihil as... I don't know what...something less than them... I will _never_ forgive you for making those memories of hatred so vivid again, which is why..." X'ero lifted up one of her hands up in the air, all the black feathers began move towards her until they were all circling in the air with her as their center. "I will rip your rage out of you – even if you refuse to fight back."

"Stop it!"

Saïx had no idea what she was trying to do this time, but it didn't look like one of the attacks which anyone would wish to be caught in. He fought to get up on his legs, but he was too hurt to really move. It didn't help that he now was on the verge of losing control of his powers. Once more, he tried to reason with X'ero. He wasn't even sure what he was saying and the words fell on deaf ears anyway, but during it his speech he somehow managed to get up on his legs. It was then he saw X'ero... or rather truly saw the look in her face. It was twisted so far beyond the wicked smile that the seemed to be nothing of the girl he knew left. Had it not been for the green hair, Saïx would not have been able to tell her apart from Nihil. The anger and hatred was the same.

The thought that he had really lost X'ero moved something inside him – anger. For the first time Saïx usual arrogance and dissatisfaction was turned towards himself.

X'ero _had_ warned him that she in her state of mind was incapable of accepting his apology, that he was making it worse - yet Saïx had insisted, and now he was losing X'ero because of himself. He was failing the one task he had set out to do, and he had no idea what he could have done differently.

Saïx gritted his teeth as the wrathful energy inside him twitched and turned its course from wanting to burst outwards to turning inwards. It felt like his was imploding.

X'ero was going to be saved from herself whatever she wanted to or not. He would not, could not accept failure – not this time.

It felt like the imploding energy centered at the very core of his being and somehow all the pain vanished for a second. His sword appeared without his consent, and without thinking he slammed it into the floor. The force wave it created blasted out in all directions, and X'ero, who never had been able to withstand a physical attack, was pushed out of her feather barrier into the wall as all the black feathers fell pointlessly to the floor.

X'ero picked herself up.

"Cheater!" She hissed. "Brute! Of all times to..."

Her curses didn't really reached Saïx. A sudden tiredness had overtaken him. Whatever it was he had done, it felt like he had overexerted his body and mind.

He needed to rest, but he couldn't –not before X'ero listened to him.

"Get... yourself together." He ordered. "It's weak, pathetic to fall into the darkness of mere memories!" Saïx tried to walk towards her, but he was not really sure that he was succeeding. It didn't felt like he was moving anywhere. "You're not weak. I would never attach myself to a weak person. So snap out of it!" Saïx couldn't stand any longer, he slumped down of the floor, leaning against one of the supporting pillars. Through half closed eyelids, he saw X'ero limping towards him. She squatted next to him.

"If I want to go crazy it is my choice!" She said coldly as her gloves appeared.

"I know." Saïx's eyes closed. His body wanted to sleep. He was barely able to form sentences. "You can extract my abilities if you want. I would be glad if you could actually use them to kill Sora and Riku, but don't... go crazy."

"Why didn't you fight back properly?" X'ero asked. Was her voice more calm or was it just because he couldn't see her face through closed eyes?

"I need you." Saïx mumbled in a drowsy tone. "It's a terrible thing, isn't it? Once someone worms their way into your... life, you suddenly become dependent on them. I am thrown out of the Organization, I have no allies left, nothing to direct my ambition at, I'll properly never get my heart back..."

"Don't you feel that you just crea..." X'ero tried to interject, but Saïx continued to speak in attempt to finish before sleep and disappearance from X'ero's hands completely overtook him.

"I want you, X'ero – in every way, and even if I can't have that I need your respect. You are all I have left, so kill me if that can bring you victory. Just promise me not to become suicidal, and let me be... somebody you remember with at least a little respect. Just let me be somebody for you then I won't vanished completely into nothingness."

He felt the light touch of her hand on his chest through the light fabric of his new costume.

"All right..." She sighed, sounded almost defeated. "I can try to do that."

Satisfied that he had accomplished _something_, Saïx allowed a sleep he was sure not to wake up from to invade his mind.

* * *

><p>Riku looked at the shaken up Naminé skeptically.<p>

"Are you really sure?" He asked. Naminé nodded and fiddled with her drawing block.

"I can't see what's in X'ero's mind because the heart of her somebody isn't connected to Sora, but... I think she is hurting, and I think she needs help."

"Of course she does." Riku was of two minds: Part of him understood how it was to get lost in darkness, understood the desperation, but that also meant that he understood how dangerous X'ero could be if she lost it which he believed she had. "But of all people to help, I really don't think that Saïx is the right one." Riku finally concluded.

"True..." Naminé hung her head. "He _did_ threaten to kill me."

"...Umm." Nobody and keyblader both looked at the water musician who apparently had overheard the conversation. "Saïx really care for X'ero. He says he doesn't, but he really does. I just think it would be a really smart to leave them alone." Demyx fiddled with his fingers and mumbled to himself. "Besides if we get lucky they kill each other and save us from a lot of trouble."

Before Riku could make up his mind, Leon entered the headquarters.

"Sora's here." He said.

Riku took a deep breath. He hadn't talked to Sora since... Kairi and truth to be told, he didn't know what to say. The memory of his lost friend still hurt Riku so much that he couldn't bear to think about it. It had been enough to make him rechanneled his power of darkness after all.

"I'll talk to him."

"Where is she?" Sora asked as soon as he saw Riku. No greeting, no happiness of finding his childhood friend safe again.

"Naminé is safe." Riku said and pointed towards Naminé.

"Not her, where is the murderer?"

"Murderer?"

"She _killed _Kairi!"

"Nihil is not here." Riku said.

"Half of her is!"

"Not the responsible part." Even though Riku _had_ attacked X'ero for that exact reason, it just wasn't the same when it was Sora spewing those words. Riku was concerned for his friend. He should have sought Sora out immediately when he had learned what has happened with Kairi, not gone after X'ero.

"I'm not sure..."

"Riku is shielding her." A soft voice suddenly spoke. Riku, Sora and Naminé all froze and turned around. They knew that voice it belonged to one they had all thought gone. "Because he has fallen back into darkness." The young woman whispered.

She looked at Riku with pity in her face, but it didn't matter what expression she wore because Riku had missed just as much as Sora.

"Kairi!" Riku and Sora whispered in union.

* * *

><p>Ns: X'ero and Saïx's battle was insanely hard to write, mostly because their characters are so stubborn and doesn't want to change at all, but we're 42 chapters in it is time to change.<p>

Zexion:...We're are nearing the end, aren't we?

Ns: Yes... It is a little sad. Anyway. Now where I have reworked it, I do feel more inspired to write the ending, but I doubt that I can write a chapter in a week, so the next chapter and there will only be one, will be out 2 weeks from now.


	42. Chapter 42: Bested

Ns: Well, I am back and an track with a new chapter. Late as always.

X'ero (Sighs): At least she is not denying it anymore.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters related to Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 42: Bested<strong>

"Kairi!" Both young men said the name in unison and took an automatic step towards the young woman. It was Kairi's hair, her favourite clothes, her smile. It was wrong! Something tugged in the back of Riku's mind, but he had trouble naming what it was. It was then Kairi laughed in her own soft way and smiled.

"What is the matter with you two?" She asked. "You look like you had seen a ghost."

It was a mental slap to Riku's face. It couldn't be Kairi because Kairi was dead. There was really only one person who it truly could be. Riku shook his head. It was Zexion! It had to be Zexion. As Riku thought that Kairi, who couldn't be Kairi, smiled and perhaps it was because doubt had spread in his mind, but Riku thought that the soft smile was almost evil.

"Sora, that's not Kairi." But Sora did not react at all. It was clear that he wasn't hearing and seeing 'Kairi' the same way that Riku did.

"Sora…" Naminé stepped up beside Riku. "Riku speaks the truth."

"They are enchanted." The fake Kairi said. "By the darkness of the witch. Sora, you need to get into safety. We'll find a way to save them together, but for now you need to get to safety." Kairi took a step towards Sora.

"No!" Namine said and took a step forward as well. Riku summoned his keyblade just to be ready to defend the blonde girl. "_Roxas_!" Namine said. "You promised me we could stay together. You can't leave me."

Sora stopped his advancement towards Kairi and turned his head towards Naminé.

"Naminé…" For a second there was a hint of the blonde buy who was now a part of Sora.

"Sora! Roxas!" Naminé continued. "Listen to your heart. You know this is wrong."

"Yes, Sora." Kairi said mimicking Naminé's tone. "Listen to you heart. You know you want me to be real."

"I…" Sora paused and looked between the two girls. "I am going with Kairi." Kairi smiled and Riku was sure he heard the flutter of pages.

"No." Riku charged at the fake Kairi to prevent 'her' from taking Sora, but the second he reached them they had both seemingly vanished into thin air. Behind him Naminé was sobbing.

"I couldn't reach him…" Naminé cried. "I couldn't reach Sora. I couldn't reach Roxas. I couldn't get through."

Riku didn't know what to say to comfort the crying girl. He was gaining an increasingly feeling that all the worlds were falling into the darkness. And as far as he knew there was only one person who knew the whole story.

* * *

><p>Mistakes, that was all she had ever committed from the moment she met Zexion. Everything from not just throwing Zexion out of the hotel when they had first met to ever let Zexion know what she thought about their status as Nobodies. She had always known that he was a mad scientist, she should just have kept her mouth shut – dammit all.<p>

And then there was Saïx. X'ero looked at her unconscious friend, because to deny that he wasn't a friend would be foolish at this point. How had she ever managed to get involved with him the way they were she didn't know, but…

X'ero lifted her right hand as her gloves appeared once more. It hovered over Saïx's chest. She needed more darkness, she had to do this. Instead of doing anything the hand trembled uncontrollably. X'ero tried to steady it, but it was impossible. Curse Saïx for not fighting back, it made this so much harder.

"It is the only way to protect Zexion." She said out loud to herself. "It is the only way." But part of her didn't want to.

Saïx had no idea what it was that he had done. The blast with which he had pushed her out of her barrier was the same thing that Demyx had used at Oblivion. Saïx had managed to push himself to the same state of being as Demyx and X'ero had no idea if it was this Saïx truly wished for or if he would only be satisfied by returning to the person he had once been. Did she really have a right to deny Saïx the opportunity to find the answer himself?

X'ero shook her head. She could either save Saïx or Zexion, it had always come down to that and she had always known it. This time she finally succeeded to stop her trembling. She took a deep breath:

"I can do this!" She said to steel herself once more.

"Do what exactly?"

Recognizing the voice X'ero jumped to her feet and spun around to face Riku. She quickly noticed that he was alone. That was what happened when she let hostages run away.

"I thought I told you to bring the other two keybladers." She said coldly, as her feathers surrounded Saïx. If it came down to it, she would extract his darkness… No more time for self-doubt.

Riku paled considerably and said nothing as his eyes followed the movement of her feathers.

"Something has happened, hasn't it?" X'erp asked and lowered her hands. It was no surprise for her to hear Riku confirm it.

"Sora disappeared." Riku said after a long pause.

X'ero blinked once, then twice as she processed the words. Then both gloves and her feathers dissolved. X'ero couldn't help it. Suddenly she laughed. The inner turmoil, that Saïx had brought about, was now insignificant.

"I would like an explanation." Riku said. "A true one this time. With no lies and no more kidnappings."

"What is there to explain?" X'ero asked with a shrug and she went over to Saïx and attempted to get him a position so she could drag him out the Bastion. He didn't deserve that she just left him there. "I was bested."

"Bested?"

"I simply lost."

* * *

><p>Thirteen empty thrones were standing in the room of nothing. In the middle of the throne room, the place to which all the thrones were pointing, a dark portal appeared and out stepped a young girl who should never been able to wield the power of darkness. Knowing that there was no one worthwhile to keep an illusion up for, the frame of the young woman quickly faded away and a eternally young man appeared instead.<p>

Zexion thought it through as he looked at the empty thrones. By placing Sora far out of X'ero's reach and in a remote place of the non-existing world where there were a lot of heartless, Zexion deduced that he had kept X'ero from interfering with his plans. He had not counted on her leaving the World that Never Was with the help of Riku (which irritated him), but if X'ero couldn't get to Sora, she couldn't stop the flow of hearts to Kingdom Hearts and Zexion doubted that X'ero would taking other measures against him.

Still it was irritating to have lost her out there in the worlds. It was a hard rift in their relationship to mend, but at least he had minimized the damage. Zexion was so engrossed in his thoughts that he nearly bumped into Xaldin.

"Zexion." The larger man said. "Have you seen Xemnas?"

"No! And neither have I seen Saïx, Xigbar or X'ero."

"Lexaues tombstone has darkened."

"It is obvious that something or someone is moving behind the scenes." Zexion stated. "We should make a premeditated movement."

"What?"

"I am headed for the laboratory to check up on Vexen. It is the only place inside the Castle I haven't checked."

"That is unusual active for you." Xaldin said.

"Yes, but I am worried. X'ero is not a person I would like to lose."

Xaldin seemed to accept that.

"Then I should check the city."

"You shouldn't go alone. There is a chance someone is catching us one by one. Take Luxord, Larxene might be involved."

"You've gotten quite bossy." Xaldin noted.

"Someone has to take charge when everyone else is missing." Zexion stated. "Do you want the leadership role?"

"No, you are the strategic."

"Good." They went onto their different paths, but Zexion didn't go the laboratory. Instead he simply took a detour to the Proof of Existence. He knocked on Larxene's stone and she appeared.

"What?" She asked with crossed arms.

"I need you to contact our… allies and get them to corner Luxord and Xaldin in the city."

"We are killing everyone in here too?" Larxene asked.

"No, we are getting others to do it." Zexion said matter of factly. "The difference being that we are not in direct danger."

"Yeah, but it is boring as hell."

"Our allies will turn on us, make no mistake. You will have your action."

Larxene looked at Zexion sceptically.

"I know what I am doing." Zexion ensured her.

"Fine." Larxene said. "It is not like I have something better to do."

Larxene disappeared through a portal. Zexion moved his hand through his hair. With that there was really only one person in the Organisation whose fate he was not in control off. This was not something he looked forward.

* * *

><p>The laboratories were the place that Zexion truly felt home. He had grown up here after all, amongst glass flask and beeping machines and Vexen had been just as permanent fixture as the computes had been. The scientist turned around as soon as he heard Zexion steps.<p>

"You have been missing here from here for quite a few days."

"There has been coup d'état in the Organisation." Zexion calmly stated.

"And given that you are so calm about it, it is not Saïx that has orchestrated it."

"That man was never a threat to me."

The two looked at each other, and Vexen knew. Zexion could see it in the face of the other.

"What now?" Vexen asked.

"Now you have a choice. You hand me the control of the laboratories and agree to be confined in this room or I will kill you."

"You are no fighter." Vexen stated.

Zexion said summoned Lexicion. As the pages of the books flipped a dark power streamed from it.

"How?" Vexen asked, but answered the question himself. "X'ero. I told you to be on your guard with her."

"I am in no danger." Zexion said trying to ignore the faint headache. "Do you wish to fight me? Unknowing how this adds to my power? There is no need for you to fade from existence."

Vexen said nothing, but simply threw a computer device to Zexion. Zexion grabbed it and formed a portal to teleport out.

"Ienzo." Vexen said as Zexion stood in the portal. "You will not win this."

"Ienzo is dead." Zexion coldly said. "Which is my entire point. I am moving forward and when I have won, you will appreciate that you did not stand in my way. "

With those words Zexion disappeared out of the laboratory and soon followed a buzzing sound as the laboratory was sealed and the lights and computers shot down one by one.

* * *

><p>Ns: And with that the chapter is done. (Looks at X'ero): You quit rather easily don't you?<p>

X'ero: You created me!

Ns: True, true. The next chapter will be up...

Zexion (Teleports in): Why don't we be realistic for once? Ns, have three papers coming up, she won't be finished with another chapter this side of christmass.

Ns: But...

Zexion: Expect the next chapter in janurary.


	43. Chapter 43: Moving on

Ns: And finally the next chapter is up. Cristmas really drained my creative powers this time around, but still this must be a new record in delayed updates even for me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts (obviously) nor any of the characthers for Kingdom Hearts. This story is purely made because I am a fan of the universe and wants to enjoy it with other fans.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 43: Moving on<strong>

A warm feeling was invading his body; it was forcing every sense of tiredness out and slowly forcing Saïx's consciousness to resurface from the torrent of dreams that had been throwing him around. Together with the warmth came an unknown prickling sensation beneath his skin. It made him restless and Saïx moved irritated.

"See he is stirring," An unknown female voice sounded. "I really think that it was nothing more than exhausting, and elixir or ether would have been enough."

"Demyx was out for week, though. Of course they were experimenting on him, but…" That was X'ero voice. The most recent events flashed through Saïx mind and he forced his body up with such suddenness that dizziness almost knocked him out again.

X'ero and a woman Saïx didn't know anything about other than she was part of the restoration committee were staring at him. The mere fact that X'ero was standing next to another person, calmly, without attacking anyone or giggling told Saïx that she was in a much better state of mind. The prickling sensation expanded to a warm feeling that flooded through his body, and Saïx breathed out in relief. He was so shocked by this earnest feeling that he felt… well… shocked, and turned his head away from the two women to calm himself. That act was easy enough and these new sensation, no emotions, subsided back into the prickling sensation right underneath his skin. It was then he realized that he was hungry.

Saïx summoned his claymore, in the corner of his eyes he saw the unknown woman back away a little and dragged it over his skin. Just as with Demyx a black liquid silently flowed over the wound, Saïx starred at X'ero who looked at him blankly.

"I suppose I should ask you how you feel." She finally said.

As his body apparently had decided that he hadn't eaten for ages, Saïx starred at X'ero while he ate. They had been left alone in the room, but as of right now none of them had said anything.

"…" X'ero looked away.

"…" Saïx glared at her.

Finally X'ero gave up the game of silent treatments and looked at him.

"Don't you have any questions?" She asked.

"So many that I don't know where to start. What happened to me, X'ero?"

X'ero fumbled with her hair.

"Do you remember Castle Oblivion?" She asked. "How Demyx knocked us out?"

"Yes. It was the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to me."

X'ero's lipped tugged a little. It was good to see that she was doing better. The warm feeling came back and Saïx shook his head to clear it. He could figure out how he truly felt about this woman, when he had settled what had happened to him.

"Well, what he did was somehow… eh… grow a heart."

"How?"

X'ero ran her fingers through the long side of her hair.

"Zexion was a bit in 'mad-scientist'-mode when he tried to explain the theory to me, but as I understood it, it all boils down to memories. Our bodies are basically memories moving and acting like we remembered them to. It is also a memory that creates our personality."

"We act and react as we remembered we did once." Saïx said.

"Yes, but as we continue as nobodies we also creates new memories with each passing day." X'ero said. "And as time passes the memories of who were will fade in favour of the memories we just created, and we subconsciously creates new behaviour patterns because we encounter new situations, in time our personality develops in a different direction than what it would have done if we hadn't lost our hearts."

"That is logical, but still does not explain this. I _live_, X'ero. Live."

"We can already draw our weapon out of nothing, we live out of nothing and fade into nothing. You simply forced life out of nothing. As I understood it by drawing on a memory you didn't really had or at least could remember you had."

"What?" X'ero had been spending way too much time with Zexion if she thought that made sense.

"You forced yourself to remember emotions that you never really had remembered as a Nobody before. Don't you remember Oblivion? How Demyx was just so… cold and un-Demyx-like? Well Zexion theorized that instead turning our existence outwards in a final attack, we can theoretically turn that energy inwards in an implosion and force our own existence unto the other side of death. Which means…"

"Which means I am alive." Saïx said as he looked at his hands with wonder, the prickling sensation under his skin was the sensation of being alive. "A nobody who lives."

"And has a heart of nothingness." X'ero concluded.

"And that means?"  
>"I don't know. You tell me."<p>

Having a heart was definitely not like he remembered. It felt like his emotion were mostly dwelling underneath his skin, not really there, but not really gone either until he looked at X'ero or remembered something he was fond off and then his body and mind would be flooded with the sensation off a feeling in a short amount of time. It was as if someone had installed a giant on/off bottom on his emotions. Of course it was still a step up from not having the emotions at all.

"It is different." Saïx explained. "But I don't feel incomplete anymore." That at least was true.

"…You can't go back." X'ero said after a short pause. "I am sorry, but Isa is lost forever."

Saïx didn't know how to react to that.

"Perhaps it is for the best. Everything I had as Isa have been sacrificed anyway." He said after thinking it through. "The question is, do I have anything as Saïx?"

"You mean me." X'ero said. "I didn't kill you because… " X'ero paused. "You really are someone to me, Saïx. I think you have been for a long time, but… I… I don't like who I am with you." X'ero titled her head so the long side of her hair covered half her face. "You can push something inside me that make me lose control, make me desperate in a way that brings out the very worst in me. I… I want you to think well of me so very much that each time you doesn't it shakes me into my very core. If not pushing me completely into darkness. I have trouble hurting you. I just don't want to. You make me unstable Saïx, and that is not good."

"And Zexion is better?" Saïx asked, the prickling sensation slowly turning into anger which made him want to destroy something.

"No." X'ero said. She rose slowly from her chair. "I made a mistake. I should never have come close to Zexion or joined the Organisation." She leant against the wall, not looking at anything. "I was sick, Saïx. Too the very core of my heart and even now when I don't have one, it appears that losing my heart have not cured me entirely."

"X'ero..."  
>"I am unstable around others – especially you." Where her hand touched the wall darkness began to swirl as a portal formed. "It's good you are all right." X'ero said, she looked back at Saïx the long side of her hair still covering most of her face. "You will always be someone for me, Saïx, but so will Zexion, and I am tired of people getting hurt by the darkness in me. I don't think I can handle being around others."<p>

"Where do you plan to go?" Saïx asked.

"Home." X'ero said as the portal closed around her.

Then she was gone, the only thing left was the green feather which she had abandoned on the table for Saïx to take once more.

* * *

><p>Riku was frustrated. He had tried time and time again to find a way to the World that Never Was, but no matter from where he tried to enter, the barrier stood strong. Kairi was gone, Sora was enchanted and King Mickery was as usual missing. If just he could have convinced X'ero to help him, but she had refused to do anything beyond refraining from further attacks and thus as the hero he was. Riku was incapable of forcing her to assist him. As he finally returned to Radiant Garden, Leon approached him.<p>

"Merlin has finally heard from the King." He said.

"Good." That was at least one thing finally succeeding for him.

"But the girl is gone."

"What?" Riku flew up the stairs to the room where he had allowed X'ero to wait for her friend's recovery, but only found Saïx who seemed to be ordering Demyx to fetch something.

"Where is X'ero?"

"I don't know."

"Is she up to something?"

"No. I don't think so."

Riku chose to believe the Nobody's word.

"You have a high ranking in the Organisation, right? Do you know how to get in?"

Saïx looked at Riku bored.

"If I did, I would never tell it to you."

"Stop it." Riku hammered his hand into the table. "Kingdom Hearts is soon completed. The worlds is about to end. Sora is lost. I don't have time for this."

"Sora is lost?" Saïx asked. "That explains why she spared me."

"What are you doing?" Riku asked. Demyx returned in that moment with a bunch of star charts and Saïx's cloak.

Saïx took the charts and spread them over the table and he quickly threw the cloak over his carnival clothes.

"I am finding X'ero. I won't take her 'no' for an answer."

"Is that smart?" Demyx asked nervously. "Won't she just be mad?"

"Properly and that is why you are going with me?"

"Me?"

"Yes."

Riku starred at them angrily. Was no one willing to help him.

"Zexion..."

"Is not my concern. I have deflected from the Organisation." Saix stated. "And I doubt Zexion's plan will affect Demyx and I. It is aimed at hearts of light and darkness, not hearts of nothingness."

"So we will be safe?" Demyx asked.  
>"I hope so."<p>

"You are willing to bet on a 'hope'." Riku asked.

"Isn't that what you heroes normally do?" Saïx asked coldly. He looked directly at Riku. "Are you going to waste your time fighting us?"

"No. but…"

"Then scram!"

* * *

><p>Nihil was sitting on the window hill as she looked out of the window. The sky in the world she had sought refuge in was grey.<p>

"Yo, withcy."

She looked at her prisoner with disgust.

"I have a name."

"I know." Xigbar said. "But I don't really think it suits you. Anyway what is with the mood lately? You haven't been cackling and making evil plans for at least an hour now."

"I am ready." She said. "Now my opponents must make their move."

"Which opponents?"

"My enemies."

"Okay… Very informative." Xigbar looked at Axel. "You do realise that your little friend is crazy?"

"Believe me, I noticed."

"I like green." Nihil just said from nowhere. The two Nobodies looked at her surprised.

"It's the colour of hope and jealousy. One day I will have hope as well."

"What is wrong?" Axel said. "Where did that come from?"

Nihil smiled as wicked as usual and some of her heartless appeared.

"They are moving out." She said as her echo landed on her shoulder. "Are you ready, Axel? Now it is time for the fun to start."

* * *

><p>Riku left the room in which the two male Nobodies were preparing for who knows what. He was frustrated and angry and confused, but even then he wasn't about to get a break to figure out the next course of action, barely had he gone down the stairs into the restoration committees headquarters before he found the whole committee unconscious on the floor and a scared Naminé hiding behind the table. It was then he saw one male armoured Knight standing there surrounded by the strange monster he had seen at the Coliseum.<p>

Riku summoned his blade without a thought, but had to dodge the beam for one of the dogs. It flew over his head and slammed into the staircase with an overwhelming noise. Saïx and Demyx appeared on top of the stairs.

"You!" The Knight said. "You are the companion of the Dark Witch. You are darkness as well. Your eyes betray you." Another beam went straight for Saïx, but he lifted his sword an as the beam connected a barrier of light protected him.

"How?" Riku asked.  
>Saïx took the short way down by jumping and landed on the floor next to Riku.<p>

"An upgrade we created. Specifically tailored to shield against light-elemental."

"You two are staying to fight."

"He obviously wants to kill me." Saïx stated. "And we can't leave through the Corridors. They would be flooded by now." He swung his claymore in position. "I just hope X'ero is out of the corridors."

* * *

><p>X'ero wasn't out of the corridors that connected the worlds, and now she felt the consequence off that as she looked at the Metal Balloons floating over her heads and the Lighhounds surrounding her. She summoned her gloves, but was not really sure how to tackle the situation.<p>

"Watch out!" Something spun over the air over her crashing into the balloons and dissolving them into tiny keys.

"Double-Aeroga." She wasn't late to making sure the keys stayed dissolved.

What looked like an oversized mouse with a keyblade landed next to her.

"You must be King Mickey." She said. Apparently she had not luck in getting away from people.

* * *

><p>Ns: And here we are, updating again.<p>

Zexion (sighs): You and deadlines...

Ns: I know, I know, but at least I did update it. I don't abandon the project. Now go back to your scheming.

Xion: How long should I keep fighting?

Ns: One week from next Friday. I will be uploading every other Fridays for this semester.


End file.
